Game Development

25.9.24 / Week 1
Name: ALYSSA AISYAH BINTI 'ARIEF NASRAN (0364017)
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Advanced Typography (GCD61004) / Section 1

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LECTURES

Week 1

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INSTRUCTIONS

  

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EXERCISE 1

Our first exercise is to critically analyze a past students game, pointing out and highlighting what we like and dislike from the game, areas of success/improvement, and overall thoughts on the game.

Reaper Test

The game I chose to review is Reaper Test. Upon first impressions of the game, it looks nice. The visuals are pretty, cohesive to the theme, and clean. For a game called "Reaper Test" all the visuals match the kind of aesthetic id expect out of a game with that name, the colour palette and art style is suitable and charming.

Fig 1.0 Start Screen

The first criticism I have for the game is the grammar for the writing. The game first gives some backstory to the premise of the game (which is to complete the reaper's trial in order to become a reaper themselves in the afterlife) which is good, however, there are grammatical mistakes in both dialogue sequences. The first, in punctuation after the word "Underworld". It should have a comma or period, as the sentence has two independent clauses. The correct version would be "Greetings from the Underworld. Satan has an offer for you.../Greetings from the Underworld, Satan has an offer for you...". The next, is grammatical mistakes in the second dialogue sequence. The article "the" before "your death," is unnecessary, it should simply be "your death."- the correct version would be "Due to your death upon saving a life, you are being chosen to become the next grim reaper."

Fig 1.1 Backstory Dialogue 1

Fig 1.2 Backstory Dialogue 2

There are other grammatical mistakes in other parts of the game too, such as in the tip section for the character movement tutorial pop-up. It should be "bigger" instead of "higger". Other grammatical mistakes can be found in the attacking tutorial pop-up too, where "monster" should be "monsters" (plural) since you encounter more than 1- I also wish the text in explaining the Left/Right mouse click for attacking was bigger since its quite small which can make it harder to see and read, there is a lot of empty space which could have been utilized.

Fig 1.3 Character Movement Pop-Up Tutorial

Fig 1.4 Character Movement Tip

Fig 1.5 Attacking Pop-Up Tutorial

Fig 1.6 Right Mouse Click Explanation

Furthermore, there is another grammatical error in the last tip, "range attack"  should be "ranged attacks" because it is describing attacks that happen at a distance (as opposed to melee or close-range attacks), and it should be plural to match the verb "deal" as you can use the attack as many times as you want and must use it to progress through the game (not a singular event or use). "does not only deals" is also incorrect, it should be "do not only deal" (plural subject "attacks" and verb agreement). "it" should be changed to "they" (plural), and lastly from "obsticle" to "obstacles" (spelling error and plural again, as you encounter many throughout the game) making the entire correct sentence; "Ranged attacks do not only deal more damage, but they also hold more power allowing Kuro to push obstacles"

Fig 1.7 Tip for Ranged Attacks

However, I like the fact that there are pop-up tutorials for each part of the game. It makes it quite clear as to how to play the game as the instructions (despite the grammatical mistakes) are laid out easily for the player to understand. The tutorial pop-ups would be displayed at each new stage where I would encounter a new obstacle in the game. Following that, it then laid out the new mechanic I would have to learn which made the sequencing of the game feel smooth, logical, and easy to follow. I also like the mechanics of the game, it uses familiar and typical buttons in gaming, but also, I think the mechanic of the ranged attacks dealing more damage but requiring more energy is good too, it makes sense as you use it sparingly, teaching the player to use both kinds of attacks but logically it is coherent too. The mechanic of replenishing energy through killing enemies (they drop an orb which the player can pick up to replenish energy) is also smart, as its rewarding and useful to the player, giving incentive to actually kill the enemies.

Other than this, I appreciated the animations in this game, and diversity in obstacles- it isn't just enemies to avoid and navigate through, but objects, dangerous spikes, and moving/difficult to reach platforms too. The animations are very smooth, from the characters to the enemies to the obstacles, the animations are well made and not choppy at all, theres even death animations for the enemies which I thought was a nice touch to the game, it made it seem more interactive.

Fig 1.8 Obstacles 1

Fig 1.9 Obstacle 2

However, I discovered a glitch or maybe a poorly designed obstacle? in this part, you are supposed to move the pumpkin by shooting an orb to catapult it away (as instructed by the tutorial), yet, I could get past the pumpkin without doing so, so I feel as though this is an error in game design.

Fig 2.0 Obstacle Error

I also like the visuals of the enemies too, again, it matches the games story, theme, and aesthetic. There are two types of enemies you face, a land type, and a flying type that is able to damage you from a distance with a shot which makes the game more fun and adds a level of difficulty to it. However, what I didn't like was the range which they can hurt from and how much they hurt you especially for the first enemies you encounter, the damage you take is pretty significant. It seemed overkill for enemies to damage you as much as they do, which made me have to restart a few times since the hitbox for them to damage seemed very large too, so it didn't take much for my health to go down by a lot just from a few hits which was annoying. I also wish the enemy healthbars were more visible, maybe using a different colour than black, because it sort of blended into the background so it was harder to see. I also wish that there was more visual or even auditory cues when you are damaging the enemy, since it would be easier to see what hits of yours registered, and keep track of damaging the enemy.

Fig 2.1 Enemy Type 1

Fig 2.2 Enemy Type 2

Something I really appreciate about this game is the checkpoints, since it would be frustrating having to re-do some sections all over again from the start, though I wish they were more clearer about the checkpoints being checkpoints- I thought it was some cool item to pick up or a potential power up or something I needed to progress in the game later on/part of the story, it would be nice if it was more clear about it being a checkpoint. I have the same criticism of the portals to the next level too, I wish it was more clear about it being an exit and entry point to the next level.

Fig 2.3 Checkpoint

Fig 2.4 Portal to Next Level

There is one particular area in the game I really dislike, which involves going through three showers of consecutive fast-falling spikes, where the player MUST have enough health to go through them both, and if not, they cannot progress. I think this is a mistake in game design, because it forces the player into an unwinnable situation if they haven't preserved enough health beforehand, which leaves no room for skill or strategy to overcome the obstacle. Essentially, if you have taken damage before-hand from an enemy and don't have enough health to go through the obstacle, you must kill yourself first. A better re-design of the obstacle would be having a short timed pause for the spikes to fall more slowly and give the opportunity for the player to strategically/skillfully go through it by having the right timing instead of forcing a sure-death or sure-HP decrease.

Fig 2.5 Falling Spike Area

The last level is unique. It is an area where the gravity doesn't exist and you float up and have to avoid various obstacles in your way. Its a nice change of pace and contrast to the other areas, and certainly made sense to be the last level since it was the hardest. There were considerably more obstacles to avoid, I enjoyed the difficulty though as it presented a challenge and appreciated the uniqueness of the level, 

Fig 2.6 Last Level

however, I discovered an issue while playing through the level. There is a flat platform that shouldn't kill me, but it does, which is this platform

Fig 2.7 Platform Error

Even though I didnt touch the spikes and only the bottom flat part of the surface, I still was killed, but for some other flat platforms- they were safe to touch and didn't kill me, so I found it inconsistent and it didn't make sense to me why it killed me, only the spikes should be dangerous- which it was for the other platforms which had them. I suppose the entire platform and the spikes for that one in particular was marked as a dangerous entity, but if all the other platforms flat parts are safe to touch, it can be confusing to the player, as it doesn't flow as well since its not consistent/cohesive to how the game usually works. I was wondering if it was a mistake in game design or a bug.

Another major issue I had was the game crashing. I had to restart the website several times in order to play as it would randomly crash.

Lastly, there is the end- which is achieved by walking to the lamp post. I commend the design yet again, its very aesthetically pleasing and fitting for the game, though I maybe it would be better if it indicated it was the end of the game somehow as a minor improvement to signal to the player the game will end once you reach the lamp post, maybe with the word '-END-' on it or next to it.

Fig 2.8 End of Game

Overall though, I enjoyed the game. It is a very beginner friendly game that is mostly easy to understand and play, and the mechanics and design are enjoyable and fun. I feel like its a replayable game despite being so short because of this, and as pointed above, there are definitely things that can be improved upon, but also many things which work well and are a success in the game. I like that I received a certificate at the end too, it gave me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and it was cute.

Fig 2.9 Certificate for Game

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REFLECTIONS