Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Let's Chat about Controllers.

 

Has a non-game playing friend or family member of yours ever examined you holding and manipulating a console controller, and concluded it to be as alien to them as piloting an aircraft?

For as nonsensical as their design might seem to be to an outside viewer there are very intentional and important choices to be made when console developers design their controller, consider these questions about how controllers are designed, and respond with your own insight on the subject.

What sort of challenges would the people designing a controller have to take into account? How would they have decided how many buttons there are, what shape/color these buttons are, and where on the controller they are?

Over the years, how have different controllers from the same company changed? Notice how, functionally, modern controllers for different consoles are almost identical, why do you think this is?

Monday, December 9, 2013

Driver

What I believe makes a good driving game, and the machines to actually make the game good need to be realistic. Too much in Driver, you could tell it was so unrealistic, just the ways the cars moved in the corners and the things that the could do were not all true. Knowing cars I knew for example some of the front wheel driver and four wheel drive cars that could not do some of this stuff. Also to make a game actually good, the game needs to have realistic driving turning and handling which this game highly lacked. A game that has all this is Dirt 2. In this game the driving controls and how the car handles changes from surface to surface, and it truly does take practice to be able to go as fast as needed to succeed.

dirt2+2009-11-29+23-54-14-88.jpg

Physics and Garrys Mod

Garry's Mod and Physics

One of my favorite games to play is Garry's Mod, Garry's Mod is a sandbox open world game.  You can play a multitude of different game types to enjoy.  One of the most interesting aspects of Garry's Mod is the physics engine, you can connect a variety of parts together to create massive contraptions from robots, to spaceships.  The game is not realistic, though it doesn't really matter in this case, because the game is so fun on its own.  The game allows you to do anything you want using a semi realistic physics engine.

Driver



   On Friday we played Driver San Francisco. I thought the game was alright the story in the campaign is much better and it flows really nice.  Good Physics in a game I would say is the Need For Speed Series and The Burnout Series. After we played Driver we went to Burnout Paradise and that game is more sharp and better for the controls. Burnout Paradise the game looks good for the time that it came out. Me personal Burnout Paradise has the better driving mechanics then driver. One thing that I didn't like is the controls in the driver game when you need to turn you need to tap the e brake to slow down. In Burnout Paradise you tap the break and you are drifting. So to me both of these games are good but the story in DRiver is great and the driving in burnout is great to.      





What makes for good physics in a game. The games we played the physics were awful. It seemed like on one of the games you were in 2x speed and if hit a jump you would either go super far or go five feet. In the other if you boosted you would spin out instantly and it would take 5 minutes to straighten out because of the god awful driving mechanics. If you are making a racing game why wouldn't you devote time to actually make somewhat good steering, acceleration and boosting. In need for speed shift they almost perfected these mechanics. They gave you limited boost you can use, you don't spin out when you accelerate, and the drving is good. The driving isn't too touchy and when you turn it isn't a sharp turn. They smoothed out frames when you turned so it doesn't look like trash because of the fps you play at. And the fps isnt locked on it. Most ea games they lock fov and fps at like 30 fps and 90 fov. The game can be changed pretty easily to fit best computer specs. So the game needs to have better mechanics and more realisitical engines so the physics don’t bug or arent just trash.

Driver


This game was extremely unresponsive. You had to start turning a good 5 seconds or so before you actually wanted to turn, and no matter how hard I mashed the O button to E-Brake, nothing happened. This game was generally very bad with mechanics. I feel in a game where you're driving cars, the handling should be a bit smoother, not jerky or twitchy. There is a big difference between this and Burnout. In Burnout the game mechanics where quite the opposite of Driver's. Instead of being slow and unresponsive, they were hyped up and unrealistic. An example of a game with good driving mechanics, would be Saints Row III. In games like SR3, the way the car handles differs depending on what car you're driving. Even the cars with the best handling aren't over hyped, and you can make sharp turns without using the handbrake. (It's a bit harder to do, but it is possible.) Sure in Saints Row 3 you can use additions like Nitrous and Knee Cappers, which are unrealistic, but as far as the cars by themselves, the mechanics are fairly on target. 

Car Game Physics

In my opinion, I enjoy the car racing games which stay close to actual physics, but also have a few modifications, such as speed boosts and jumps with big air. I honestly have never played other racing games besides Mario Kart so I have nothing to compare this game to. If I do compare this game to Mario Kart, I would stay loyal to Mario Kart for the most part. I enjoy the fact that you can use items and jump over other players, and that you can play several games with any car or in this case cart that you want. One part of the more realistic games such as Driver that I enjoy is the fact because it's so real, the idea that you can hit speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour added some comedic relief. Running into a wall going 300 miles per hour in the middle of a city was also quite humorous. Finally, people have to drive and follow common rules everyday, so why would I enjoy a game that again makes me follow those rules?My opinions may be swayed towards surrealism because of the fact that I grew up on more cartoonist games that bend the laws of physics.

Driver game vs. Other racing games

The game we played on Friday was an okay game. The physics were fine in the game but not so much the driving mechanics. The mechanics of the game was like driving in Gta 4. The car would spin out or do what you didn't want it to do and you tap someone and you would almost die and plus when were going very fast, it's hard to make the corners. All though, the physics were fine in the game. The people tend to move out of the way when you try and run over them but its good graphics for the time of the game. A better game is GT or Need For Speed. Those have good graphics and mechanics. Any racing game should start copying the way Gta 5 made there driving. Gta may be a sandbox like mission game but it has better racing/ driving mechanics then most racing games. Need for speed has improved over time but it has been a good game. The mechanics in a racing game should have good steering, unlike Gta 4 when you just barely turn and crash or spin out. Going fast should have good handling also. Gta 5 is a good inspiring mechanical game that the racing games should look into how Gta 5 made there driving. 

Fast Cars and Physics


A race is one of if not the simplest, purest acts of sport. On Friday we played Driver, an auto racing game, and had a tournament. Some of you liked the game, and some of you did not. Many of your opinions revolved around the Physics and mechanics of driving in the game. In your opinion, what makes for good physics in a game? What game has had the best physics that you have played, and how does it compare to Friday's game Driver. Consider what role realism plays in your opinion. Please write at least 200 words and include a relevant image with your answer.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_physics

Monday, December 2, 2013

The Walking Dead- Jacob Shaker



I believe that The Walking Dead Game is still a game, it is interactive and has a goal.  It is
not however the same as a game such as Minecraft or Call of Duty.  The Walking Dead Game is akin
to the old choose your own adventure stories, watching the story unfold until the key point in which you must make a decision.  The Walking Dead Game forces you to also participate in quick time events pressing certain buttons to survive.  While most of the game revolves around making important decisions for a group of survivors, there is no control over the actual ending of the game this "Illusion of choice" puts most of the edge off the game.  While knowing that you can effect the individual fate of survivors you can not affect the fate of your party.




The Walking Dead

 What do you think about The Walking Dead as a game? Does it even qualify as a game? Or is it a different kind of media altogether? What features decide if the Walking Dead is a game or something else from your perspective?

I thought there was too much dialogue and not enough game play. It technically qualifies as a game but in my opinion its not really a game with all the cut scenes and no free roam. To me its just a digital book of some kind with the very little fighting and all the talking. It would only be a game with some form of free roam and no or little cut scenes. I do not like cut scenes very much, even resident evil is pushing it with all the cut scenes. But resident evil makes up for it with somewhat of a free roam and being able to buy stuff and being able to accomplish something.

Walking Dead- Nic Beaulieu

In my opinion, The Walking Dead is a game. As a class, we defined a game as a type of interactive media that presents a goal or challenge to the player,(More or less). The walking dead meets these qualifications, but is definitely not like a traditional game. The fact that you are not only making linear choices. and watching a movie or video afterwords, but dictating combat, who lives and dies, and who you side with in fights and arguments. While in the long run these choices do not effect the end of the game, they do affect how you play through the game, which isn't quite just an illusion of choice.
The walking dead is a game. It is not a movie because of the interaction you can do between characters and the choices you make. I don't understand why someone would think of the game as something else, it makes no sense to me. Anything you can interact with and have some sort of movement and character control is a game. The walking dead has all of theses details. The game has movement,control,choices,interaction. The problem with the game is they focus too much on story line and cut scenes which has potential to seem more like a movie.

The Walking Dead

I think this game was brain inducing enough to overlook the poor graphics and screenplay. This game intertwined emotions and cause and effect, which made you feel good or bad about decisions you made throughout the game. This relates back to Csiksgentmihalyi's flow, having a balance of all the great aspects of a game. I believe that it does qualify as a game because of its need for human interaction. This alone makes the experience a "gaming" experience. A game also needs someone to try and fail, which this game also allows. I do think that this is a whole different kind of game than the ones commonly played now. This game requires the ability to make a decision and live with the consequences , while most games are mindless playing with the same out come, only with different levels of difficulty. The fact that this has parts of action, quick thinking, and you have to make decisions that affect the outcome of the game, this is constituted as a game.

Walking Dead Game

The walking was a ok game at the time . It was made for the book and its clear that it goes with the book. It does qualify as a game. This game isn't like others, it's not fully controlled by you. Theirs no free roam, and its a choosing game. There are parts in the game were you have to choose who to save or who to give food to and if you want to go with these other people or not. But sometimes if you say no to something, later in the game you have to do with no choice. It's a multiple choice game but its still a game like others with no multiplayer. Just a long story that has many paths to go on.

The Walking Dead

Personally i think the Walking Dead game is interesting from the choices you have to make about life or death.But i think the graphics could be better because the world we live in we have higher standards for the game. Yes, i think the Walking Dead game can be qualified as a game because you are playing the game and making choices. But the game could also be seen as a different media altogether. Some features that make the walking dead game a game is that the player is actually playing and not just watching, the player is being interactive. But the game can also not be seen as a game because all the player does is make a discussion of your future.

The Walking Dead

I myself love this series of the walking dead. This was my second time playing the game and I will admit that playing the game for the first time is much better than the second. On the first time playing you feel like your designs really matter. Your decisions do matter for characters and such but as you go on, you realize that in the end, your choices don't really matter, the end will happen you may just have a different road you have taken. I think it does classify as a game but it is more of a comic in a game with choices. I view it as pretty much the comic but in game form so I really don't know whether it is a game or not. The style of the game makes it like this, the graphics and all you would expect to be in a game, aren't really there. The style of game makes it feel like a comic because of the still choices, not so much a game.

The Walking Dead


The Walking Dead was far different from anything else I've played. I didn't like or dislike the game as a whole, but rather liked certain parts and disliked others. I really enjoyed the puzzle aspect of the game, where you had to find different clues and objects in order to progress, as well as the ability to chose who you can save and how that "effects" the game. Compared to other zombie/Infected games, this was really unexpected and was rather interesting to see. As far as the game goes, you don't have much control over the game itself, but you do appear to have a choice of the story. What you say, what you do, who you save, who you kill. 

This game was very slow. It was often hard to focus on, simply because there wasn't always much going on. It was more like a movie then a video game for me. It is a game in the sense that it is interactive and you can operate a character, and make choices, kill enemies and have an objective. Although as I watched the game being played rather then playing it myself, it was more like watching a show or a movie. I was interested in the story, and did want to see what happened to the people, and how they made out, but I didn't feel like I would have when I played a game. 

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Walking Dead

The game the Walking dead is definitely a game but its more watching than playing. It engages the player to make quick decisions and it makes you act quickly, especially when you are being attacked but a zombie and you have to attack it. Also then decisions you make carry with you throughout the entire game. The main reason it is a game is because you get to choose your path and choose the ending you want, granted it is a mystery the first time around. During your quest through the zombie filled towns you begin to make friendships and bonds with people who might help or hurt at the end. This is a good driver at why this is a game and should make it more interesting to play altogether. A cool feature about the Walking Dead is that the servers track who picks what making it so you can compare what you have selected during the prompts compared to other players, helping Telltale make the game better. 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The Walking Dead



  On Friday we started to play the walking dead made by telltale. Me personally that game doesn't interest me because it is not very interesting to me and I don't watch the show either because it doesn't appeal to me. The games graphics to me should be better and more better because the world that we live in the visual can be much better. Plus it looks like the same engine as in borderlands series. The choices in the game are good because it alters the game. Do I think The Walking Dead as a game no I do not it more of a interactive movie. Their are parts in the game that you move Lee but all you do is make decision and change the story on what you do. Now that part is cool, the part in episode 2 where you can either chop the leg off or you change leave the guy in the bear trap to die is pretty cool. I think if the game creators went out of their element and add a much better motion capture system then the game will be much better. This interactive movie is a story based game. I think if they had some really cool 3rd person action game play fighting a lot of zombie would be good. Think The Walking Dead and put it to The Last of Us thats a discussion we should have. Both game as heavy story and The Last of Us is a very good game and has a lot of good action game play and you don't get bored. To me The Walking Dead should not be consider as a game but as a interative movie. The Last of Us was much better.      

The Walking Dead


This Friday we played Telltale's The Walking Dead. The game is part of the multi-media spanning franchise spawned from the original comic book series. It's crediting with reviving the long lost adventure game genre, popular during the 90's.

The walking dead is largely more of an interactive story then a traditional game. It tasks the player with making choices in regard to events in the story, often adding additional layers of tension with choosing who gets to live or die, or adding time limits to your choice.

Often a discussion brought up with visual novels, what do you think about The Walking Dead as a game? Does it even qualify as a game? Or is it a different kind of media altogether? What features decide if the Walking Dead is a game or something else from your perspective?
Please write a minimum of 150 words.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Flow Chart

https://www.lucidchart.com/documents/edit/4e52-de38-528b5ef1-9b58-46c90a009b07




Copy and paste the Url into the web browser then you will arrive at our chart: Josh Elton and Andrew

Titan Fall Online Review

With playing in a cooperative server where, players in our room could discuss tactics and strategies that could not have been achieved if we were not playing as a whole. Playing online together, allowed us as players to be able to create strategies and plans on bringing down the smaller, more challenging titans. We were able to work together as a team, and in a task as big as the one presented to use, that made all the difference. I tended to pal around with a small group that I was close that where we could easily communicate and create plans for taking down titans. In the beginning, I tried to go off and do it by myself, but found it to be extremely difficult to really maneuver around the smaller titans that were faster. This game as a whole, playing on local sever, encouraged team work and communication and playing with your friends.    

Monday, November 18, 2013

Video Games or Homework


Attack Of the Titans

Attack of the titans was a fun game that i liked. I seemed to wounder off on my own and find titans then flare to signal a titan to get back up. Other people would do the same. It was hard to take one titan down on your own. So backup from other people is good. So it's good to play with other people if you want to have fun and kill of the titans.

Attack on Titan


   This game that we played on friday was a good game to me. At first the controls to the game were hard to understand and it took me some time to understand the controls but once I got it down I had a much more fun time. The different environments that we played where interesting and I didn't like the forrest map because they was nothing to swing off from. But in the city map it was more interesting and had a spiderman feel to the game when you press the space bar. I thought that the multiplayer was better then the signal player because you can help people take down the titan and when you took down a titan you have  sense of happiness when you took down a titan because you have to hit them in the back of the neck to kill them. Eren in the game I thought was the best character in the game because you can play as titan eren which is pretty cool because he just eliminates all of the titans. To me this game I enjoyed once I got the controls down I was able to have a much greater time.    

Attack on Titan


Attack on Titan was one of the stupidest games I have ever played. It didn't really have an point to it and the controls were touchy and hard to work with. You could only kill the titans if you climbed up their backs and cut their necks from behind, which in itself is a bit unrealistic, but was not that complicated. I found that all I had to was climb up a wall and wait on a roof, until one of them got close enough to jump on and kill.

Playing Co-op with the class did nothing for me. I spent the first 20 minutes climbing up buildings trying to figure out what I was doing, and then killed at least one of the titans on my own. I found it difficult to focus on the main point of the game (if there even was one) because I spent the first game figuring out the controls, and by then it was so simple that I quickly became bored. I understand that the reasoning behind playing this game, was to examine a game that had a bigger multiplayer option through a LAN network, and a game that as a class we could all play together, but I personally did not learn anything from this experience.

Nick Haidari Cam Perron Matt Babit Nic Beaulio

mind mapping software

Attack of the Titans.

I think that the game would be super boring without cooperative play. There are 32 titans and it would take too long and get old very fast. Adding cooperative to any game is fun because you get to play with your friends. Playing with your friends makes any boring game a little less boring. Playing with a massive group is fun because everybody charges and takes down the titans almost instantly. Its fun and cool to do and be a part of.

Attack on Titan: The LAN Connection -Jacob Shaker

Attack on Titan: The LAN Connection -Jacob Shaker

I found that playing with many other people over LAN helped me play better, I felt much more competitive playing with other students, trying to die the least and kill the most titans.  I also found that most of the people who were proactive and helpful in the classroom were the most productive and helpful ingame.  The Attack on Titan day we had allowed us to have a good group experience and to work together.

One of the most interesting things that happened was when we took the forest challenge.  The forest challenge is a system where you must survive twenty waves of titans with no respawns.  There were about eight of us actively attempting to take down titans, while many others simply durdled in the tree line, staying safe but not benefiting the group, nor accruing points.


17 Absurd "Attack On Titan" GIFs For Every Occasion

Titans

During this game I was not involved with helping others out in killing the big enemy's. The game discouraged me in cooperating because the enemy's were very easy to kill so you didn't need any help at all. This makes me feel as if the game should be a single player game not a multiplayer game.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Call of Duty Flow

A game that fits the flow chart in this case is a series is Call of Duty. These game require you to have constant alertness of all of your surroundings and sometimes you become curious and lose that focus. And of course this is not even close to every day life because you get to shoot a gun. How many time do you get to shoot a gun and respawn just to shoot it again? These games obviously have a clear objective as it is clearly spelled out for you when you spawn in. The controls and how the game plays make these games playable for hours on end never getting to  boring. The games in this series enable you to take your frustrations out on imaginary people through the form of shooting them, just do not take the game into real life. Thats how Call of Duty produces the flow that is so much desired by many companies and is one of the reasons it sells year after year, even if its crap. 

Them Titans

Playing as a cooperative group did two things to the gameplay experience. First it made it so the new players could learn from the more experienced players and second it brought out some peoples competitive side.
During the game I often found myself lost and didn't know where to go so I normally stayed by myself trying to find allies to help take down these overpowered monsters. But I mostly stayed by myself trying to find straggler enemies as a tutorial as how to properly take down a enemy. The game definitely encourages cooperative tactics so long as you can find teammates and enemies if not it can make for one boring game.

SPAM FLARES



This Friday we played Attack on Titan tribute, a Chinese indie game based off of the Attack on Titan anime.

We played on a local area network, which let us all play as a large, cooperative group. How did playing as a cooperative army of sorts affect your gameplay experience? Did you try to stick with certain players? Did you go off on your own, and find groups to help take down titans with? Or did you go it entirely alone? How did the game encourage or discourage specific cooperative tactics?


shingeki no kyojin attack on titan gif

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Dichotomous Key Flowchart

We are making dichotomous key flowcharts. In groups, pick a general question, and conceptualize a series of questions (Comedic or otherwise) that could guide readers to a variety of conclusions. Remember to start with a broad idea so that your choices can get more specific as you make options for the player/reader.

Use Gliffy or Lucidchart to make your final version.

https://www.lucidchart.com/

http://www.gliffy.com/


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Attack on Titan Game Instructions



Attack on Titan Game instructions:

1. Go to http://fenglee.com/game/aog/.
2. Click on the center area where there is a image, to install and download the UNITY game program.
3. Exit out of the site, go to a different site, then reopen http://fenglee.com/game/aog/.
4. Go to multiplayer - private server - click on the option that is NOT PORT
5. Wait for further instruction
6. Once inside chat room for game, set character and name (set name to your name and last initial like this : Jacob S. )
7. Wait for game to start.

How to play:
Goal - Kill all of the "Titans"
How - Hit the titans in the back of the neck

Controls:
WASD - Moves
Q + E - releases a rope to your curser location
Space - Sends dual ropes to either side of you
LClick - Sword Swing
Rclick - Special (if you have one)
R - New sword (swords break after extended use)
Shift - Gas to launch off the ground
Control - Dodge



17 Absurd "Attack On Titan" GIFs For Every Occasion

TF2 Flow



  • Completely involved, focused, concentrating -  7/10 - In TF2 it really depends on the server. If your on a fun server, your focused on winning and having fun, but if your on a bad server, you might rage and focused on getting out of spawn so you are focused in different ways.

  • Sense of ecstasy - 5/10 -When you get the weapon you want you may become happy or you may feel good after getting a 10+ kill streak or killing your nemesis. 

  • Great inner clarity - 7/10 -TF2 tells you in game on what to do and were to go and how its gong but one thing it don't is when you join, it takes like 1 - 2 minuets to figure out if your attacking or defending. 

  • Knowing the activity is doable - 7/10 -TF2 requires a good skill of defeating a hacker or over powered team.

  • Sense of serenity - 6/10 - In TF2, you dont seem to worry a lot. You just play the objective and have fun 

  • Timeliness - 5/10 - Again, depends on the serer your on. Hacked server with hackers, you seem to be board and mad and it feels slow but a good server, it flows well.

  • Intrinsic motivation - 7/10 - Having flow in TF2 can give you hats, weapons, and other. Games can feel fun and fast.




    The chart



         While playing Batman Arkham Origins I'm so invalid in the game that I feel like I'm the dark knight. The universe to the time period is in a different time and that it is a world that could never existed and world is so dents that it is amazing. When you go on a mission you know what your task is to do clearly without thinking to hard on what to do.  The fighting in the game is what makes the game it never gets boring knocking down enemies and super villains.  You can play hours at a time just exploring or playing through the main story. The game progress good not to fast or not to slow and you get the right gadgets for different situation.

    Garrys Mod Bhop Flow chart

    Garry's Mod Bhop
    1. Completely involved, focused, concentrating - In B-Hop you need to be focused so you don't double step and miss blocks or gain too much velocity and miss completely.
    2. Sense of ecstasy - After completing almost an impossible bhop jump for my first time. To do this your player needs atleast 1100 velocity, the fact that I did it made me happy.
    3. Great inner clarity - In most maps in bhop maps you can tell progression and you really have only one objective, to get to the end.
    4. Knowing the activity is doable - All maps can be completed on bhop some are just a little harder than others.
    5. Sense of serenity - When completing almost impossible jumps you get the sense of serenity.
    6. Timeliness - When you are deep into a map you are focused on the game more than the time.
    7. Intrinsic motivation - The game needs skill and is challenging.

    Pick a game any game...Flow Chart

    How does your game rank on the  Csiksgentmihalyi Flow Chart? Relate it to each one of these categories. Please post a photo of your  hand drawn chart.

    1. Completely involved, focused, concentrating - with this either due to innate curiosity or as the result of training
    2. Sense of ecstasy - of being outside everyday reality
    3. Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done and how well it is going
    4. Knowing the activity is doable - that the skills are adequate, and neither anxious or bored
    5. Sense of serenity - no worries about self, feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of ego - afterwards feeling of transcending ego in ways not thought possible
    6. Timeliness - thoroughly focused on present, don't notice time passing
    7. Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces "flow" becomes its own reward

    Dark Meadow


        In the I-pad game Dark Meadow I think that it is a horror game and the concept of the whole game is really good. While playing the game I notice that the game looked really good and when you looked up at the sun you would get that effect with the lens. To make the game more scary I think that the demons could of been more scary and the building had that type of bioshock going toward it. I think that the game did well was the lighting in the game it looked like a game that belongs on a console. I really like the shooting mechanic when you shoot the crossbow it feels like you are in control or you are in the game. Another thing is that the characters are what needs to add to the horror experience. This game to me is a very pretty game on the IPad and I enjoyed it for the class but I don't see myself playing this game in the future.

    Tuesday, November 12, 2013

    Dark Meadow - Brett Griffin

    Dark Meadow was not a horror game, it was weird but not scary. The creepiest part about the game was the ghost girl that came out of nowhere. The only thing it did to make a frightening atmosphere was the old destroyed hospital filled with monsters and a ghost. It did not do well in its combat system or story, when you first begin the guy tells you to grab any weapons you find cause you will need them, but you never find anything your guy just happens to carry a sword and crossbow in his pockets.
    It could have made jump scares happen from time to time. The game could have been scarier with better scary music. If it had an actual story and made sense. If it had a  improved combat system. I would dodge but it wouldn't count until the animation was complete so I would still get hit. The setting could have been better too.

    Dark Meadow


    Dark Meadow, is in my opinion, the best phone game that I have ever played. Like most games, this one gets progressively harder as you go, but this one is beyond comparison. With the first two levels being open world, you can roam pretty much where ever you want within the first two floors of the hospital. Keeping in mind, that as you level up, and as you get kill streaks, the enemies get tougher and tougher. By the time you get to the third level, you are set on a one, track path. You can't explore, you can't roam, you can only go in the direction that the game sets you, and this track, is near impossible. The enemies get tougher and tougher as you come to them at each level. Not only that, but because you are only killing enemies, you're building up a kill streak, which makes the hard enemies, even harder. 

    Dark Meadow does advertise itself as a horror game, and I think that they do in fact show this very well. Especially the very beginning of the game, where you're stuck in a room, and the only contact you have is an old man in a wheelchair. You walk outside, and its darkly lit with a ghostly figure, barley visible in the dark. The game gets a bit lighter as you go, but the enemies get tougher, and there is nothing scarier then fighting one of those things with low health and no med kits. What's even more interesting about this game, is that you can not die. If a monster beats you, you simply black out, and wake up back in your bed, and then you can go out, and run everything again. 

    This game has one of the best story lines that I have heard of for not only an iPhone game, but in general. You wake up in a strange room knowing nothing, and slowly find out why you're there and that everything around you, and everything you know, is not what it appears to be. This game twists your reality, and places you in the characters shoes. You feel what he feels, and there are parts where you really end up hating everything, and you want nothing more to find the person or thing that is causing you this pain and this torment, and run him through with your sword. 

    An interesting piece to this game, is that the two weapons you are given, are a sword and a crossbow. This game is set in a fairly recent time period, and there are many clues to give this away. The most obvious one being that the old man thanks you for "inventing the internet." So in a current time period, with internet and fire extinguishers, why would they give you a sword and a crossbow? Why not an AK-47 or a Shotgun? Having these two older weapons really give the game a unique feel. If you had been given a gun instead of a sword it would be like every other game, and it would be much easier to play. Because of this, the sword and crossbow make this game far more interesting and unique, and make the game more challenging. 

    Dark Meadow

    Personally, I did not see this game as a horror game. I feel like it had the potential to be a horror game, but failed to add the scary aspect. This is not an easy task though. With this level of game play and interaction, it is difficult to create a scary story line while entertaining the entire game play to its full potential. I did think that this game was spooky. A feeling of unknowns and never knowing when you are going to battle did add an aspect of unease to the game. The environment also added a scary environment. The eeriness of the whole game simply made you worry about what could happen next. They did a good job with the story line, forcing you to wonder what happened that ended up with you in this complex.

    I have a feeling that this game started with a different idea, but due to the game play, the story line had to change. Unfortunately, I feel that horror games have specific horrific moments, and this game was slow and easily readable.  

    Dark Meadow

    In my perspective i did not see the game to be horror. But maybe to others people would think the game would be scary because of your surroundings and the creatures. In the game there was some spooky creatures that would try and kill you. Also i found the guy in the wheel chair was quite creepy. But i think if they added more eerie sounds to the play it would have been more creepy as the player goes around a corner not knowing what you will see.

    Dark Meadow

    Dark Meadow did not feel like a horror game because there were no jump scares from what I could see.
    They did well with the darkness setting and the broken windows, also the different doors like the good and bad doors. I was usually kind of nervous to go into the bad rooms but there was nothing bad about them. It didn't do well with the battle aspect its kind of weird because you get a sword and shield out of nowhere. What it could have done to be better is leave out the old guy in the wheelchair a true horror game has only has you and whatever you can find. All in all its not a bad game but its not the greatest.

    Dark Meadow

    This game for me, did not seem like a horror game at all because it just seemed too laid back, it reminded me of infinity blade on steroids. The game doesn't have a horror feel, yes you are in a abandoned hospital and fighting, but its not scary for me, doesn't have that key peace of being afraid of going around that next corner. It was a good fighting game because of the fighting machines it seemed to use, the block and dodging makes the game fun and enjoying and even to quiet a large extent, challenging. The one thing I did not really like is it seemed to be very boring, for me, it was just the same type of atmosphere every fight and some of the same moves you would repeat every monster, the story though I do enjoy. I think making things pop out, or having the atmosphere much less visible and such I think would make it a much scarier.

    Dark meadow

    Dark Meadow for me did not make me feel afraid of the actions throughout the game because the way it makes you turn around to get in a fight could of been more horrific. They could of made the attacks more horrific by making the zombie grab you back and jump at you with a more messed up face. But they also made the game more empty that you could get into a fight at any moment without any notice and it was very quiet and slow and empty. The did not make the enemy's go with the creepy features of the setting in the game.

    Dark Meadows

    When I played this game, it felt to me like a game for killing weird monsters and creatures. It didn't feel like a horror game. It was like playing a game in which the atmosphere is like and not dark and scary and. The although the creatures did spawn out of n ware, I pretty much expected them. In my mind, Zombies in Black Ops 1 was more scarier then this.                                                                                       The games graphics were were good and that's whats I thought. Its AI was not that good and the user interface sucked as well. Fighting was bad because when you swing the sword, you have to wait 2-5 seconds to dodge the creature. And if you just finished fighting a easy monster, you could walk around another corner and you would die. They could of darkened the the area you play in, add scarier things to the walls like blood and dying people and other things.










    Dark Meadow-Nic Beaulieu

    To me, Dark meadow wasn't a horror game at all. Although it appears promising at first, with a creepy atmosphere, a strange ghost woman, and a mysterious wheelchair guy, who says that you're trapped in the building, Dark meadow was a big let down. The 'click to move' mechanics take away from the horror game feel right away, and the monsters aren't very scary because they jump up from the ground quite a distance from the player, giving them time to pull out a random crossbow and sword. It might be scarier if it wasn't as easily predictable, and could try to incorporate more 'jump scare' type scenes. The scenery itself was fairly good, its a dark, old, cabin type building. Overall, the developers of Dark Meadow had a good shot in horror genre but failed in doing so with the mechanics of the game.

    Dark Meadows

          When I played dark meadows I didn't even know that it was supposed to be a horror game. I can see how they tried to make it a horror game by adding monsters that popup when walking down a hall, it just wasn't that scary. They made the halls dark and spooky which probably would have made it scary for some kids however it still isn't enough for me to even classify this as a horror game. Maybe the game was meant to spook little kids.

    This game could improve on a lot of things. to make a horror game you need to have spooky music leading up to a big scary event. Adding scarier music leading up to these is big because it adds dramatic effect. When people hear scary music they pretty much know that something is coming and everywhere they go they get scared, because they know. When the ghosts came out in the game they became more annoying than scary because of the amount of health they have, there is certainly balancing that needs to be fixed or patched.

    Dark Meadows

    The game we played was Dark Meadows. I don't like it because it is very difficult and I don't feel like I will ever beat the game. The controls are awful, the game play isn't good either. It doesn't feel real enough. It did not feel like a horror game. If it had more jump scares than it would be a better horror game.

    I kept dying, if they made the game a little easier it would have been easier. If there were better controls and better game play and easier I would have played it longer. That would make the game better.



    The Dark Meadow -Jacob Shaker


    The Dark Meadow -Jacob Shaker


    The Dark Meadow is a Horror game, it draws upon our most base fears.  The fears that we felt most acutely during childhood, the dark, the unknown, the strange.  These themes contribute to Dark meadows dark "nightmarish" feel.  Dark Meadow taps into our primal instinct, we know nothing of the creatures we fight within the game, only that two of us fights, one of us lives.


    Cage-Rainbow

    Monday, November 11, 2013

    Dark Meadow

    In the game Dark Meadow you are supposed to be spooked if not frightened. I did not feel either one of these to say the because everything up to the point I played to I could very easily predict what was going to happen. The things that the publishers did do well to make it seems frightening is that some of the rooms were darker making some of the predictability factor wear off and that life packs were scarce so you were scared to fight one more monster. Things that could have made it more spooky were to make more horrifying monsters and make the game a little more dark.  

    Friday, November 8, 2013

    Dark Meadow

     

    Dark Meadow advertises itself as a horror game, it sends you into an abandoned building and tasks you to fight your way through hordes of monsters in a fashion resembling a rail shooter. For you, did Dark Meadow feel like a horror game? What did it do well in regards to creating a frightening atmosphere? What did it not do well? What could it have done to become a more horrifying game?

    Wednesday, November 6, 2013

    Coca cola website. Way back machine.

    Although way back machine is down and I can't see what the website looked like back then I could assume it wasnt as interactive and the graphical design wasn't as pretty. As of today the us.coca-cola.com website has youtube widgets and rss feeds to share promotion and the new winter coke cans. An rss feed is a page module you can add the updates news stories or twitter feeds etc. They have a live slideshow gallery and news headlines. The website also  has other coke websites such as mycokerewards in the bottom which redirects you to that website when clicked on.

    indie game: the movie

    I thought the movie itself was quite boring. Some parts of the movie where funny when we saw the reaction of the players when they were playing super meat boy.If i had to hang out with any of those people in the movie Indie game: the movie it wouldn't be anybody because they are not my type of social group. If i was going to make this movie better I would have more creativity in the plot.

    INDIE GAME the movie

    Although it is cool to see development behind indie games and see there progress, this movie made it seem like video game design can make you depressed and poor. Although that may happen because of the game being unsuccessful this movie would not inspire me to become a gaming dev. The movie showed all the negative outcomes and if the movie was indeed to inspire people this is not the way to go. Even though they showed the devs that were kind of depressed the movie showed the lengthy process of making an indie game. They showed the positive and negative community support and how to deal with the haters. I think this movie showed some good and bad stuff that happens in the gaming world.

    Old and New Rhapsody - The Way Back Machine

    New And Old Rhapsody


    Old rhapsody first was owned by a different company. It only had a 6 links to other related page. Rhapsody was first owned by Rhapsody Consulting. There was only 1 language, no search bar, the graphics were old school, and you couldnt have an account.
    The new Rhapsody, You can have all those things, the graphics are better, theres a search bar, and you can create accounts. So over the course of about 16 years, Rhapsody has developed from a small old website, to a new, current gen website.

    Monday, November 4, 2013

    PvZ

    People enjoy games on the go. Thats why developers of the app store both on android devices and apple devices. To get more people playing they have to appeal to a wide variety of people. So they make these games easy and dumb down controls. Mobile gaming has been the platform for bringing gaming to a national audience because people of all ages can pick up the game and play.

    iPhone Games

    The iPhone games draw in such a broad audience because most of the good games are only made on the iPhone and they also have phenomenal graphics with great mechanics. The games have brought in a national audience because the phone is sold world wide and is the most popular phone out there. The games are national sold because their cheap and fun and have great mechanics. Thus is why I believe the games are sold worldwide.

    Friday, November 1, 2013



       I think that what brings people in to Iphone games is the picture on the app. It may look cool and when you click on it you see that it doesn't look that cool. Or some people might play the game and really like it because the game is easy and they are winning all of the rounds or races. People from all over the world like games because some people like family games and other people like arcade games.  The Iphone has brought gaming to the gaming outside the home.

    Plants Vs. Zombies



           The reason people are so attracted to iPhone games such as Plants vs. Zombies, is because they are easy and they appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Plant's vs. Zombies, Candy Crush, Angry Birds, all of these games can be played by anyone of any age, and they don't require much thought or skill. Compared to console games like Resident Evil, Skyrim, Call of Duty, etc, which are generally more violent, more graphic and only appeal to a certain demographic, these games can be enjoyed, again, by anyone. As well, not everyone has a console, and you can't exactly carry an Xbox and a TV with you wherever you go. However, almost EVERYONE has a smart phone. I've seen kindergartners with iPads and cell phones, as well as adults and teens. It's right in your pocket, and you can take it with you wherever you go. It makes it easier to download a free game, and play it while you're waiting for an appointment, sitting at home, in the car, any time you want. This makes handheld and portable gaming so much enticing, when anyone can do it, and when you can play then anywhere at any time. 

    Plants VS Zombies

    Plants VS Zombies is easy and quick that's why it attracts such a huge group all you have to do is tap the screen to win. It takes almost no skill to play. It is a way to entertain the brains of easily entertained people but I am not easily entertained so I get bored at the game quickly. It is just a quick fix during a work day or something. It only became so big because it was on Iphone and everybody and their brothers had one so it made sense. The Iphone and android devices brought gaming to anybody with one of these devices. But I never bought it because it is a overrated boring repetitive game.

    Iphone games/PvZ Nic Beaulieu

    Smartphone games like plants vs. zombies are so popular because they are made for broad audiences. They are not made to specifically appeal to children or teens or just adults, but everyone with the ability to use an iphone. Smartphones games are popular because they are, free, or really cheap, and portable. If you have some time during work, or school, you can just pull out your phone and start playing, which is why they are a big part of pop culture today.

    The IPhone Phenomenon- Jacob Shaker



    The IPhone Phenomenon- Jacob Shaker

    The rampant popularity of the Micro Games on platforms such as the IPhone has blown many people away.  Their mass appeal, low prices and ability to easily fill the empty moments of our days has created a social structure that shapes the way we spend our days through these $1 products. PvZ's simple interface and easily learnt strategy has made it one of the most popular games.

    Iphone Games

    I like iphone games and they are fun to play. Some of the fun games are Plants VS Zombies, Temple Run, the racing games, Mobile Gta, and alot more. But I don't have an iphone, or ipod. I have a Android phone and tablet but im still able to play those games. The games are fun and I will still keep on playing them.
    Iphone games like plants vs zombies brings in a variety of people that play it. The game is easy and gets harder as it goes but still simple enough for even children to play it. I think Iphone games are bringing more games out because the games can be simple and cheap to make unlike a console game. Games like plants vs zombies have clear objectives you have to do which can only make the game more enjoyable.

    The Iphone Revolution or How I learned to stop whining and write my freaking assignment.






    Though it feels like it's been around forever, the smart phone and it's cultural impact has only come to true fruition in the last two to three years. The impact of these devices on the video game industry has been astronomical, and highly unexpected. It rocketed the industry from a niche hobby to a casual pastime enjoyed by the majority of the nation.  What about casual iPhone games like Plants Versus Zombies draws in such a broad audience? Why has the iPhone been the platform for bringing gaming to a national audience?

    Tuesday, October 29, 2013

    Comparison of Whitehouse.gov

    I compared http://www.whitehouse.gov/, from October 30, 2003 and October 29, 2013. In 2003 the site was simple white, blue some pictures. It seemed quite easy to use and navigate and not hard on the eyes but it was not smooth the page just cuts in half. In 2013 it is blue and white smooth corners and it fits the screen. Navigation seems pretty easy on the 2003 website but on the 2013 version unless you know where to look you will be there for a while trying to find it because someone like me knows little about the government and everything is put in tabs and clumped together and it makes no sense. On the 2003 version everything is on the side in easy to understand links. The 2003 maybe ugly but it is easy to navigate, the 2013 version may be pretty but terrible to navigate. I prefer the ugly and the easy navigate because it was simple and I could find what I needed too.

    Reddit Then and Now- Jacob Shaker




    The Internet has changed, things have become faster, better, sleeker.  Websites have improved, evolved, reformed.  Ten years ago the domain name www.Reddit.com was bought as a domain name, eight years ago it began as the Internet news source power house we know today.  Reddit allows users to input content, which other uses can judge giving it "upvotes" or "downvotes".  The best posts are brought up to stand before the masses on the "front page" the goal of all users. Reddit has over time developed more systems to connect and divide us over the divisible lines of the internet.

    1. Upvoting/Downvoting- Reddit has allowed each user a vote in there content, pushing good to the forefront of their site and moving the bad to the depths.

    2. Adds- Reddit has been mainly a fan run site with no adds in the beginning, over time they have enjoyed one prominently featured add that will display an "add" about half the time.

    3.  Random SubReddit Button- Allowing you to delve even deeper into the mystery that is Reddit, find the darkest corners and improve the content.

    4. Reddit Gold- A purchasable service that Reddit takes NO MONEY from, allowing them to give you better content, services and products.

    5. Community- As Reddit increased in popularity, as did it's user base, improving it's content and filtration.

    6. Help Bar- At the bottom of the page there is a bar with help full links to lead you to hard to find places.

    Though Reddit has had no drastic changes, it's subtle evolution over time has improved it such that it can handle it's own rampant popularity and has even become self aware.

    Images that Mr. Todd should look at.

    Miniclip 2003


    1. Better Graphics
    2. Search Bar 
    3. More visually pleasing
    4. The use of animated ads
    5. Better site design and layout
    6. More user friendly
    7. The ability to share with friends on facebook, youtube, google+ etc
    8. Being able to use the site in different languages
    9. The ability to have an account
    10. More information about the company itself, the privacy polices, your options as a user, etc.

    Old And New Google

    Google was created on 11 Nov 1998. Old Google's index contained 25 million pages...it now contains more than 11 billion pages.Old Google could use Stanford and Linux searches. Old Google had copyrights on the main page. Old Google could send you emails and archived your email. Old Google had an exclamation point. New Google has images, mail, and much more. The New Google now supports advertising. New Google also has privacy and terms. Also with new Google you can now change the search settings.