Comments for Blog 4

http://amm356375.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/375-post-game-design-connected-to-mcluhan-concepts-stock/comment-page-1/#comment-18



http://dtc375dt.blogspot.com/2014/02/blog-post-3-interface-of-game.html?showComment=1392842431310#c3793300507878631997

Blog 4

In our readings I feel that McLuhan related somewhat to the game design readings. With McLuhan, the ideas become extremely visual and relate together in an odd way, much like a video game. In some cases, you have to really work for the information given to you. Such as on pages 54 and 55 with the backwards text. The author also relates with the game designers by saying "There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening." which I think means there is no bad way to start creating a game, just as long as you are willing to think and analyze what you need to do to create it. A Brief Crash Course on Game Design speaks on this as well " However you are most comfortable and whatever is easiest for you, do make a point to start writing down or sketching out your idea. Make note of any ideas for the theme or mechanics you may want to use. It’s amazing how this one step of documenting your idea will start the process. Otherwise, all you are doing is daydreaming. Go beyond daydreaming and document your idea. Start the process."
In Is it Really about the Theme, " One of the great debates in the gaming community is how much theme is needed in a good game, and how much your can sacrifice of your game mechanic to achieve the necessary theme." which causes me to wonder about the McLuhan book as a whole. How much of the content is lost because of the odd theme with almost seemingly random images and weird fonts? If he made a book without these would we have more content? Is McLuhan book like a badly theme game itself? So not only does some of the content, or chronology relate to the readings but the way that it is written causes pause for thought as well.

In our Weatherford readings I feel as if the steps needed to create large empires are along the same lines as creating a popular game. To create an empire you need to begin with a bartering system, then a precious metals system, and then paper money system. Much like there are these steps in an empire there are steps in game design. A Brief Crash Course in Game Design also gives us steps in game creation:


1. Idea Generation and the Early Conceptual Stage
... 1-A. From Daydreaming to Design
... 1-B. Establish your design goals
... 1-C. Pacing and win conditions

2. Early Prototypes and crash testing
... 2-A. The quick and dirty prototype
... 2-B. Internal (solo) testing – The hunt for fatal flaws
... 2-C. Early Feedback and Reality Checks

3. Preliminary Rules, Functional Graphics, and the Mid-Stage Prototype
... 3-A. Document the design
... 3-B. Begin working out the Graphic Interface
... 3-C. Make a refined prototype to support live playtesting
... 3-D. More solo playtesting

4. Internal Playtesting Stage
... 4-A. First live playtests – what to ask testers?
... 4-B. Taking and interpreting criticism –Knowing your audience
... 4-C. Design Refinement – Endless iterations
... 4-D. Design Best Practices

5. External playtesting stage
... 5-A. Blind Playtesting
... 5-B. Rules Drafting and Late-Stage Prototypes

6. The Road to Publication
... 6-A. Publishing Approaches
... 6-B. When to pitch and how to do it
... 6-C. Pitching Points for your Design
... 6-D. Passing the Baby: From Designer to Publisher

Not only can Weatherford relate to the need for structure in the development of games but also the monetary system as well. Some games, such as WOW, Monopoly, or Sims a currency is needed. This currency is usually based off of our own history of money. For example in WOW gold counts almost like a dollar, silver is like a dime, and copper is like a penny. 

Some, college professors disagree exactly how though.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksimaJgL9DA

In all both Weatherford and McLuhan can relate to the Game Design readings. McLuhan does this by his medium, chronology, and theme. Weatherford can relate to the Game Design readings because of the concept of currency and steps needed in both a game and an empire.

Comments for Blog 3

Comments I left for 2/12/2014 blog post.

 loved sims as a kid! It was one of my favorite games along with pokemon and digimon, How might this game interface be different to you from other games like Flappy bird or Monopoly? Do you feel more involved with one than the other? If you do why is that? Do you think that the reading can apply to other interfaces besides video games?

http://kthompsonsschoolblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/an-extension-of-memory-dtc-375-blog-3.html?showComment=1392233806035#c2106783679709431864



I don’t believe that the games have to have such amazing graphics to suck in the player. Games such as Janga, Dungeons and Dragons, or Slender-man have terrible graphics but still involve the gamer. I think that no matter the interface if a game’s plot or artwork is interesting enough, or makes the gamer curious enough they will play and get sucked into the game. It takes that curiosity or interest to get them into the interface however. So, I disagree a little with you but agree with McLuhan

http://paisleypeterson.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/blog-3-dtc-375/comment-page-1/#comment-32

Blog 3

Question

McLuhan says that the book is an extension of the eye, but it's also obviously an externalization of memory, and with the invention of the printed book, "[t]he private, fixed point of view became possible and literacy conferred the power of detachment, non-involvement"" (50). He compares this phenomenon to what the invention of the vanishing point (or forced perspective) did in painting during the Renaissance (52), and then argues that "[t]he instantaneous world of electric informational media involves all of us, all at once. No detachment or frame is possible" (52). Discuss -- with examples -- how the user interfaces of video games you're familiar with either support or work against McLuhan's assertion, and why.

Bam! Boom! Ping Ping! Lights dance quickly and superstitiously in my dorm room. Music and the screams from my enemies blare into my ears like an army of trumpets. "Die horde! Die!" I yell into my headset as I move my character along the battleground. Then, suddenly, the music stops and a picture appears on my screen. It's the victory screen! My team has won!

In most video games there are some type of connection between gamer and game. However, the degree of connection and information can vary to an astounding degree. 

As I mentioned above; worldofwarcraft is very connected or involved with the gamer. The interface involves a kind of first person-third person view and has the person follow story lines, dungeons, and battling other players with the use of the mouse and arrow buttons. It even allows for players to either chat with a headset or type into chat rooms while online. This allows for an additional sense of involvement from the player and persuades you to almost feel as if you are in the game.

Some people shouldn't play though......    

Some video games can involve the gamer to the point that it can change the story line in hundreds of different ways. In the Dragon age series by Bioshock the game has you create a character and follow a basic plot line, however as the game progresses and the character gets stronger you can change the story line with your choices that are given to you through the dialogues between the computer players. 

Not all games that are engaging to the gamer are in this first person mood however. In the online game League of Legends, the software has the gamer view a map of their choosing and direct their characters against the other player's characters. The goal of the game is to destroy the other person's Nexus or energy source for their base.

Finally, even the odd ball games that will not give you a back story or explicitly tell you your objective of the game, can be engaging. In some cases they are more involving because you are trying to figure out what to do. In the game slender man the objective is to run around the map and collect "notes" left by a little girl. While you are doing this though, a creature called Slenderman chases you. If you can not get notes at a certain amount of time he will creep closer and closer....until....he gets you! The game doesn't tell you this though and you must run through the game a time or two to figure it out. (If you play this with a friend they will have you play in a dark room with headphones and the music up really loud....). 

So, all games are involving but not all games will involve the gamer the same way. WorldofWarcraft and Dragon use the first person/third person view and allow you to change the story line of your character albeit in different ways. League of legends exemplifies strategy games and how players can be involved with a bigger interface. Oddball games like Slender-man show that the less traditional games with the weirdest interface, controls, and plot can STILL connect with the gamer. These games connect and involve with the gamer in different modes and views, bit they all will connect with the gamer.

Blog 2

What do I want to eat today? I ask myself as I pass through the Cub.

The central building on my college campus; filled with a food court, meeting areas, and cultural centers.

In front of me Carlita's, Subway, and Panda express span out across the heavily windowed room.

I look inside my wallet and see only my RDA card. Sighing, I realize I am low on money, and the only food available to me is the Carlita's restaurant or the student cafe on the way back to my dorm.

 Looking down at my phone I notice that I only have a few minutes for lunch and hustle to my now only option....Carlita's





What can I eat today? I ask myself driving home from work.

 Hmmmm....I could make a quick dinner or order a pizza.

I try and remember the groceries in the house that I had bought the week before.

I was pretty certain that I could make are-pas, or enchiladas...but I have a lot of grading  to do tonight...do I have time to cook I wonder?

After some debate I decided that I have the time-grades aren't due till tomorrow night, and I really want the enchiladas.

The melted cheese, creamy meat, and heavenly warm sauce, it makes my stomach grumble just thinking about it!

I exit my car and walk into my home, ready to put my dinner plan into action.