Final Project

Some of this has been posted before, but I recompiled it, and presented with pictures of the game below so it all comes together for my final project.  I have also posted a YouTube video here.

JB's stick it to 'em
Robert E. Pitts Jr.

Have you ever in customer service and wanted to tell off that rude customer?  Well now can!  Choose from an assortment of remarks, comebacks and things to do to get back at them.

Features

• Game board is shaped like an airliner, you move around the plane and hopefully you get off through the escape slide.  Inspired by flight attendant with JetBlue Steven Slater
• Play your cards against the customer cards in a battle of wills to see who can dish it out best.  Movement based on the card battles.
• Decision making is key.  Do you play it safe and wait to pull out the big card or go for broke and try to quickly make your escape?
• For even more entertainment, an interactive DVD is included that has comedic clips of customer service situations that you choose to play instead of cards.
• Play through to avoid the dreaded managers office.
• Makes a great party game where everyone can have a good laugh
• Motivation
• Your ultimate goal is to slug through the customers and make your escape from customer service.  Tug at the emotions of the players as they relive those dreaded times with rude customers.  Anyone who has worked with the public understand that people can be rude, obnoxious and downright mean.  So feel free to let it all out and tell than what you really think.

Genre

The game is a mix of a board game, card game and the benefit of the DVD

Target Customer

The large percent of the population working in a customer service role of some sort.  Everyone from waiters to department stores employees.  People want a release from dealing with the public.  Read this quote from austenbronte who wrote on ABCNews.com. "Working with the GENERAL public is mundane and rude people like that woman can drive your insane, day after day, after day, after day. WAY TO GO STEVEN! You are free from that daily nightmare, now I wish you good luck in fighting the legal system and the airline, so you can stay out of jail."  - Taken from ABCnews story linked here - http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/steven-slater-jetblue-flight-attendant-quitter-online-hero/story?id=11369252

Competition

None that I have found.

Unique Selling points

• It would be the first game of its kind
• Allows people to role play tough customer situations finally get to stick it to rude customers
• Great party atmosphere game
• DVD allows for longer play and great laughs
• Tap into the potential of workers tired of dealing with rude people.

Target Hardware

• Tabletop and a DVD player – according to the Digital Entertainment Group 2009 year end report, 92 million households have a DVD player.

Design Goals

• Easy - setup and game play
• Entertaining – Good laughs, replay value with different play through based on the cards dealt
• Group Play – get together and share the laughs
• DVD – videos appeal to the YouTube crowd and are campy and funny

Rules and play-through information


The Rules are simple but with a bit of strategy. You have two desks of cards. One deck is the Customer Cards deck (CC), the second is Service Representative deck (SR). CC cards are comments, complaints, obnoxious remarks and general dumb customer interactions and are weighted with negative values from -1 to -10. SR cards are comebacks to complaints, inventive ways to get back at customers, general ways to frustrate the stupid customers of the world and are weighted with values from +1 to +10. You initially start with 10 cards in hand after shuffling the deck.

The board is shaped like an airliner, you move around the plane and hopefully you get off through the escape slide. Movement is determined by how you play your cards. Meaning SR-CC=movement. Move forwards or backwards the appropriate # of spaces.  If negative you do not get another card. The catch of course is to strategize your card use. You can also get a bonus SR card on select spots on the board. If you run out of cards, land on select spots or select cc cards with the instructions for mangers office, you then proceed to the  managers office and lose a turn. There are 3 mangers offices around the board. When you go the managers office you go backwards to the previously passed office or if you are not past the first office return to start. On your next turn only if you have run out of cards  you draw 5 cards from the SR deck.

To add a little spice, you can utilize the DVD by landing on select spots on the board or selecting CC deck cards with the DVD icon. Some clips will be positive for the player or negative siding with the customer - movement will come from these. The clips will be around 30 seconds or so and will be campy and funny. The result will make you move forwards or backwards. You do not lose or draw a card with a negative DVD playback result, just move the appropriate number of spaces.
Another option as well for direct head to head competition is to play with another person in charge of the CC cards as you battle directly for victory and escape from the customer service nightmare!

Picture of Service Representative Cards

 Picture of Customer Comment Cards

 Picture of Game Board Layout

 Picture of actual prototype gameboard & Cards

Cards and Dice

Premise

• A Different twist on high card draw, using dice as a “power up” and utilizing joker cards as a re-roll of dice.

Rules

• Each player rolls three dice.  These dice are added onto point total of cards as a “power up”.  They can only be used one at a time and once used are removed from play (unless you draw a joker).
• value of cards ace=1 through king=10
• joker cards let you re-roll your dice and act as a way to reload your “power up”.  If joker is drawn then you re-roll your dice putting them back in play and then you draw another card (to replace one that was played).
• deck including jokers is shuffled and each player draws 10 cards
• high card including “power up” wins.  Cards are played by each player first sliding a die forward if being used and then simultaneously placing their cards on table face up to see who won.
• After you play your cards each player draws a card, winner drawing first
• most wins determines overall winner

Revisions after play-through

• I dropped the number of cards drawn from 10 to 7.  this allows for a little more randomization of what you will draw.
• As a variant, I added the option to add up to two dice at once, discard after usage of dice still applies.

Chapter Seven Book Work

Which load system would you choose to implement in you original game?
I will use a combination of auto-save when entering a new area and unlimited manual saves at any time.  This would be like what is in Fallout 3, for example.

Why would this system be preferable to others?
Well I do not want to be limited with my saves thus I don't want to do the same to people playing my game.  Second the reason why I have the auto save in the background is if you are like me you will get into the game and forget to save sometimes.  This way you will not have to go all the way back to your previous manual save but to the beginning of the area you entered.

How will you balance immersion with player control?
Since the auto-save happens in the background players will not notice that part.  The manual save is up to the player so the only immersion issues will be up to the player.  I mean if you are a control freak and need to save every 5 minutes that is your choice.    I save when I remember and it might be a while so I don't interrupt the game.  The unlimited manual save allows the player to have more control as they see fit.  The player is ultimately in control of everything.  You have some players with a busy schedule that hop into a game for an hour at a time just to have a little play time.  Other players set aside entire days to play the game and basically live the game.  So why limit gamers?

Movie Madness

I am going to try to create a game concept based on a movie.  This is usually touch because as most gamers well know, movie based games are horrible.  So here is my attempt.  The movie I selected was Training Day.  The genre will be 3rd person, action (sometimes stealth), rpg esque by maintaining reputations with confidential informants (C.I.) and cops you trust.  Some basic mechanics will be multiple dialog interactions with characters, some shooting on missions, collection of evidence and maintaining your cover. 

The overall plot of the game boils down to you finding out the special task force you assigned to is not what it seems.  Now I would have to take some deviation from the movie to flesh out conversations and give it an overall fresh feeling.  Just sticking to the movie you already know the outcome.  This way the game and plot are a better fit. 

Here is a very basic summary.  You go through several missions as part of the task force team and realize something is not right.  It is up to you to find out who you can trust You must maintain your cover, develop and keep C.I.'s happy so your can get information or legit favors to help you out.  Working with your task force team you have to play along and act as one of the group but over the course of the game, each crime scene you collect needed evidence without being noticed or attracting attention to yourself.  Also once you start to figure out who you can trust you must formulate a plan to bring this corruption to an end.

Chapter Six Book Work

For this assignment I will list three games and three ways they keep my playing.

Fallout3 – Good loot system to see what I can collect from the game world.  I like the combat system and upgrading my character.  Also the detailed game world and sheer size and amount of stuff to do.

Mass Effect 2 – Great story that keeps you hooked, with the multiple dialog choices and outcomes.  Being able to bring my character forward from the prequel and my continued evolution.  Fun weapons and combat to satisfy the need for action.

Metal Gear Solid 4 – Finding out what happens in the end and filing in the blanks with flashbacks.  Amazing visuals and controls.  Don't forget the nail-biting stealth game play – oh yeah the inch worm!

Character Development Revisited

How does the environment in the games affect the character? Well it has a huge impact on the characters in the game.  It can determine their physical appearance, weapons, thoughts, dialog and interactions.  I picked God of War and moved the game from ancient Greece to the Vietnam war era.  If we look at Kratos he would physically appear out of place.  His clothing would not be of the correct period, his weapons would be useless in jungle combat.  His enemies would pick him off hidden in the bush.  Yes he has some magic powers but those too would not be “real” for Vietnam.  Flamethrowers yes – Medusa’s head – no way!  The character of Kratos would need to be totally revamped with maybe once exceptions, his drive and determination.  This key part of his being would not be limited to one era. Everything else from clothing, weapons, dialog would need to be changed to fit the time period.  If not you run the risk of having the protagonist feeling detached from the game world. 

Also characters in the game would be laughable as well.  Greek Gods on the Ho Chi Minh Trail?  I don't think so...  Skeletons, Titans and other monsters roaming around outside of a forward artillery fire-base?  That would seem something out of a cheesy science fiction movie.

The grit and rawness of the Vietnam war does no fit the mystical enemies or the overall mood of God of War.  Characters that are closely tied to their environment do not transition to a different on easily.

Card Game

The Premise:

This is simple, attack the other players “kingdom” and win. (based on two players only)  Think of it as a modified “I declare war” card game.

The Rules:

1. Take a deck of cards, remove all kings and queens.  One player takes all black cards, the other takes all red.
2. You place one black or red king and queen down face up.  The other black or red king and queen will not be used.
3. Each player takes their remaining cards and shuffle.
4. Remove 4 cards without looking and place them face down in front of you.  This is your “reserve” unit (this is done so the cards held in hand will have some degree of randomness)
5. The remaining cards are held in hand and played against each other.  Each player presents a card at the same time and high card wins that battle ).  In the event of a tie the battle is a draw and nobody wins the battle. 
6. The reserve unit cards can be played at any time by selecting one and placing it face up.  You do not get to see what card it is and this will take place of using one of the cards in hand.
7. Play continues until all cards are used (including reserve unit cards. Player that has won the most battles wins the war and has conquered the other kingdom and defeated the other players king and queen.

After playing the game a few times, the only change I made was upping the reserve unit cards from 4 to 6.  this makes the cards held in hand more random and you have to have a little more strategy.  Just make sure you pay attention to what is played.  Heh and with any card game look to see of the other player has a tell or not.

Basic AI

This assignment I will present a simple A.I. Program for a game “Us vs It” - Tanks, Robot.  I will list the robots functions and then the program I created using it and the end result.

Robot functions:

• Laser – shoots forward unless tracking a target using scan.  +1 damage to tank, -1 action point (ap).
• Fist – Robot spins to damage all enemies within 1 square, +3 damage, -1 ap.
• Move – move forward towards goal or towards enemy if tracked using scan. -1 ap
• Scan – see if there are enemies within 2 squares, if so target (turn towards) the closest enemy.  If more than 1 target move towards target that gets robot closest to goal (in the event of equal distance, randomly choose 1) 0 ap used.  Once enemy is hit after scan, tracking resets.
• Repair – +1 hp to robot, if under 8hit points (hp), -1 action point.
• Shield – puts up barrier that blocks 1 damage during tanks round.  - 1 ap

Here is the program I put in place for the Robot.  The robot has 10 hp and 6 ap and 8 commands in the program.  The program runs until robot is out of action points, has crossed the goal line or is destroyed.

1. scan
2. move -1 ap
3. spin (possible – 1 ap)
4. scan
5. laser -1 ap
6. scan
7. move -1 ap
8. spin (possible -1 ap)
9. repair (possible -1 ap, possible +1 hp)
10. shield (possible -1 ap blocks 1 hp damage next round)

Playing using this, my robot was pretty tough.  I wanted to get it going towards the goal as fast a possible, so usually the first couple moves I went forward.

Paper Simulation

Game inspired by the Uncharted series of video games.

The rules are simple. Make your way through the game board to collect the most treasure!  You take the board pieces to assemble the game board in any shape that you can create.  There are premade shapes in a “L” and “I” shapes, along with smaller sections and then there are individual pieces.  All of these pieces interlock at the edges.  In addition you have gem (red border), action (blue design border) and warning (black and yellow) square covers that snap on individual spots into special squares.  Have fun with the other people playing to layout a fun game board.  Shuffle the three decks of gem, action, and warning cards..Next, you roll the die to see who goes first and then go clockwise from there.  Select your player token and begin the game.  Roll the die and move forward the number of spaces.  If you land on one of the special squares select the appropriate card and follow what it says.  At the end, add up your treasure, Gems=3 points, gold = 2 points, silver=1point.  In the even of a tie, reshuffle the gem cards and pick 3 treasure cards, highest amount wins (if another tie draw again).  Remember, you have to have some luck in treasure hunting!

How would reverse engineering a game that has already been made help with creating your own game? It makes you think about what is fun in the game and boil it down into a few main mechanics.  You take the one that you think would translate best into a board game and go from there.  This really puts into perspective what makes a game tick.

I have posted sample pictures below of the game:

Chapter Five Book Work

In this post I will list three challenges in an imaginary game that I thought of.  It is a sandbox space trading game.  The Three challenges are keeping the type of ship to use, maintaining your reputation and the decision of how to take over planets.  I will list the choices with the possible impact on the game.

Ship choices

• Battle ship – High cost to purchase and maintain. It has lots of weapons, great armor that is good for high end merchandise that needs protection.  small cargo space, so again high end merchandise or you're not making money.  Average speed it will take a bit longer to arrive at your destination.
• Cargo ship – Overall the ship is a cheap buy.  Lots of cargo space (duh!) so you can get more profits from moving merchandise.  However this comes at the expense of speed, weapons and armor (all low).  Also this ship does not have lots of speed, slow and steady as she goes.  So prepare for long trips.  Costs could be higher to do the need to hire escorts for protection so balance cargo vs costs. 
• Cruiser – Average cost to buy and maintain.  You have an average size cargo bay for decent returns on merchandise.  The engines are speedy so this would be a good ship for perishable items.  You have ok armor and a few weapons so you might not need to hire escorts.  Better to evade than fight if possible.

How to take over planets

• Hostile – You cause the planets inhabitants to become slave labor.  Low morale, possible riots so you have to maintain an iron fist over everyone and everything.  Bad relations with other planets and galactic counsel members.
• Diplomatic – Get good relations with inhabitants, good relations with galactic counsel members.  Probably would get bonuses from natural resources and would be a benefit to find new crew members.
• Buy off – Purchase control of the planet by paying off the planets government.  This can lead to a hands off approach to control of the planet as you would appoint advisers to watch over everything.  But make sure you have people in place you can trust.  Cost of maintaining payoffs comes at expense of resources or industry on the planet.

Type of trader

• Honest – Initially it is harder to get a start as you trade at regular prices, pay your taxes/tariffs, and overall a slower build up.  It does pay off later as you have a good reputation and get discounts or free help (due to you helping others)  You will have to deal with pirates always.
• Pirate – Steal, lie , cheat your way to the top.  Initially easier to get a start but as your reputation grows word gets out about your actions.  The  galactic counsel members keep an eye on you and will attack on site.  You constantly have to watch your back.  Does have other benefits to the black market goods and you can get access to stolen technologies.  It is harder to maintain a quality of goods as you can only get what is there for the taking.
• Neutral – You walk the fine line of being acceptable to most people but also keep a few shady characters as associates.  Sometimes missions are harder with no allegiance, but you do have access to the black market for goods and materials.  Dabble on both sides of the fence but you don't have complete access.

Prototyping:

Prototyping is essential in the game creation process.  I believe it helps refine your game mechanics and point out short comings or flaws.  Use a prototype as an invaluable tool to determine the core functions or ideas of the game .  You will quickly find out if the game is entertaining and will people want to play or not worth pursuing.  Every company I can think of prototypes their products.  Even chefs will try out new dishes and get them just right before serving to patrons.  Car companies don't just put a car together and start selling it.

 Prototyping can also help with a very large project where you can break down the game system into components and make sure those are going to work individually first.  For example, you take a fighting game and break it into animations, controls, intelligence, sounds and graphics.  Once you have these parts you can try out your ideas for each to make sure they are sound and then put this rough idea towards the final product. 

Just make sure to keep a prototype simple, quick and easy.  Don't waste too many resources on a prototype.  Remember you are trying out ideas to see if they work for the overall game, not creating the actual final game just yet.  In the end you will see the results in a great game.

Game of Dice

Name of Game – Magic Duel

It's a grand battle of two magic users and see who comes out on top!  Two dice are used along with 30 master spell cards.  The cards are shuffled and randomly selected.  Each card has random spells listed in 6 sections.  Each section contains 6 spells.  This way the spells easily match up to the dice roll.   Each spell has a damage (1-10) and defense (1-10) rating.  Play them against each other to see how much damage is dealt.  Lower point spells are more common but cards are evenly matched on an overall rating.  First die rolled is for spell casting.  You use this number to select the corresponding spell block on the card.  The second die determines which spell in that block you are using.  Play continues until someone looses all life points.  Life points are determined between the players, you should start out at 30 for a quick battle but you can go as high or as low as you want.  If there happens to be a tie, then each has a sudden death battle, one final roll of the dice to determine who wins.

After playing I wanted to make a change to the game play.  Initially you select one spell card.  This limits your play as you keep the same card each time.  I changed this by adding a game variant.  For example, I set the game life points to 50.  For every10 life points by either player are lost, both players draw new cards.  This keeps things fresh.

Design Chemistry

Not only in gaming but most industries you have the “team” concept.  Outside of sports, I have rarely to worked with a real team in my employment.  If you don't get along with your coworkers you will have a harder time. Whether your are designing a game or hot dog cart the product will reflect those internal struggles.  At my current position, in the cellphone business,  I have to deal with coworkers that do not work responsibly and leave same people are left to straighten out the mess.  Management does not help. Our new store manager has never worked in the cellphone industry and is clueless.  In the end, not only will we suffer as a team but customers will suffer as a result. 

Now on the other hand if you had a really great group, losing the egos (but not ideas), that effectively communicated and shared information you would end up with something wonderful.  It's just like a soup, if you use poor ingredients the results won't be tasty.  I would like to clarify that working with other people will occasionally lead to butting of heads or different ideas.  Working through these issues and combining efforts will take your game to the next level.  My ideal design group would have programmers, artists, sound engineers and designers all working on the open.  By this I mean having meetings on a regular basis to cross check what is going on, make sure ideas work or share new ideas. 

Now coming together in meetings would make sure all sections are at the same pace .  The sections would be cohesive and no one should feel left.  Who knows, someone in programming might have a good level idea and discuss it with a designer and a great multiplayer level could form.  Just keep on open and honest dialogue going between everyone and work won't seem like a chore.  No one wants to come to work when they dread it.  Also late nights will go by a lot faster when you get along and sometimes you just might have fun while at work. Imagine that!  A good design group will come together and make a game that they are proud of.

Chapter 4 Book Work

This time we are looking at characters and specifically the interaction of main characters.  I have to look at the triangle of the protagonist, a friend and an enemy.  I'll give some brief background on each character and how they are tied together.  Iill use my previously posted character Colgen.

Main character: Colgen Kurou

Driven by the loss of his family and wife he burns with the need to find out what happened and avenge those fallen.    The incident in which everyone was lost happened at the local theme park.  It was rented out for the day by his grandparents.  It was his younger brother and sisters (twins) birthday.  A people were there as well, as these were the twins friends.  He was supposed to be there but since he did not have a birthday gift was running around at the last minute.  The incident was a "accidental" release of a bio agent from a boar crossing the river by the park.  His wife was calling at the time to find out where he was and to tell on him to get there asap.  She briefly describes the boat at the end of the message as it seemed odd.... the rest of the message he does not want to think about, it is too painful.  He has become a loner and now has few friends.  The friends Colgen does have are kept at arms length, with his main friend being Sonnet.  Sonnet tries to help out and keep Colgen from going over the edge.  This  task is not easy for her.  Both of them are determined to find out what really happened.  Colgen sets off on his own.  Even though he is deeply conflicted, he sticks or his morals (similar to The Bushido Code).  Sonnet won't let him go it alone and forcefully accompanies him. 

Ally character:  Sonnet Wakaisaseru

Sonnet dropped off her two younger sisters at the park for the party.  She was invited to stay by Colgen's Grandparents but decided not to as she had errands to run that day.  She found out by hearing the news report on the radio while driving to the market.  Sonnet is tied to Colgen as obviously loosing siblings at the park but also because she was a co-worker with his wife.  She was good friends with them both.  There is a lot of guilt and remorse with her, same as Colgen, but instead of retracting she remains open and positive to assist in the healing process. She remains the only voice of reason sometimes for Colgen and he tries not to be like Toben and obliterate all.  

Enemy Character: Toben Revanche

The only survivor from the park, Toben is a few years older than Colgen.  He was there with this two kids and wife.  Afterward Toben is horribly scarred by the bio agent and is emotionally broken and twisted.  Suffering from PTSD he becomes a shadow of himself and blames society as a whole.  .  Toben is tied to Colgen not only by the incident at the park but because he served briefly with Colgen's father in the military (Special Forces).   He conflicts with Colgen on many points even though they want the same thing in the end.  Toben now has no sense of right or wrong.  He is the embodiment of justice and anyone that gets in his way, guilty or innocent, will feel his wraith.  He views the morals of Colgen as weak and a hindrance.  In a warped way, Toben feels Colgen is partially to blame for the incident since it was hosted by Colgen's family.  With a background in the military, Toben uses this knowledge for the dark art of revenge. 

Character Creation

Name: Colgen Kurou (main protagonist), age 25, 5'11, 200lbs (in average shape), dirty blonde hair, grey eyes.  No major physical distinguishing features.  What does make him standout from other characters is his will, even though it is not a physical feature people know this is what drives him and makes him different.

Education: College drop out, very intelligent - genius level but lacks focus.  Since he dropped out all is knowledge is self taught though he easily picks up what he applies himself to. 

Family Background: Wife – Hannah his soulmate.  The best thing ever to happen to him, his chuushin.  Without her he probably would be still wasting his life doing nothing.  He always felt so lucky to have met her and could not come up with words meaningful enough to describe his love. 

Colgen had a brother Renji and sister Senmei.  They were twins, 10 years younger, always looked up to their big brother. .  Colgen always pretended on the outside to be annoyed by the twins but in reality he loved them very much.   Renji was a  bright kid, who was determined to go into the family business with his uncle.  Senmei was the book worm type and wanted to become a teacher. 

Colgen's father Joubu died when he was 10 (just after the twins were born).   His father was a military man that died helping quell a rebellion in a foreign country (special forces could not know all details...) Colgen always remembers his dad as a great man and wanted to be like him – fair, just and yet tough.  His mother Engelhaft (whom is an orphan) raised her children as best she could after Joubu passed away.  She was a wonderful care giver, with a great sense of humor yet stern to make sure her children have a proper sense of responsibility and morals.

Colgen's main father figure was his uncle Genkaku a stern but not cruel or mean man.   Uncle always felt sad/slightly bitter for his brother Joubu not seeing the kids grow up.  A good business man that runs the family business (chain of food markets).   He always pushed Colgen and Hutago to become great.   Genkaku had two children Hutago and Kouhuku (Colgen's cousins).  Hutago is basically a year younger version of Colgen.  They were best friends and always getting into trouble together growing up.  Not major trouble but typical kid/teenager trouble.  Kouhuku (5 years younger than Colgen) was always happy no matter what was going on.  She was also the family comedian and liked everyone to have a good time. 

Colgen's Grandparents were long since retired shop owners. Uncle Genkaku took over after retirement and built up the family business.  Grandfather Witzig – was a  funny guy (comedic but not dumb) that could not figure out how his kids could be so serious. Grandma - Eigentlich was raised a classic "society lady".  She came from a upper class family but did not want to have that pompus life and wanted a good warm family.   Eigentlich was shunned by her own family for marrying down but did not matter to her as she was proud of everyone.

Overall Description:  Driven by the loss of his family and wife he burns with the need to find out what happened and avenge those fallen.    The incident in which everyone was lost happened at the local theme park.  It was rented out for the day by his grandparents.  It was his younger brother and sisters (twins) birthday.  A people were there as well, as these were the twins friends.  He was supposed to be there but since he did not have a birthday gift was running around at the last minute.  The incident was a "accidental" release of a bio agent from a boat crossing the river by the park.  His wife, Hannah, was calling at the time to find out where he was and to tell on him to get there asap.  She briefly describes the boat at the end of the message as it seemed odd.... the rest of the message he does not want to think about, it is too painful.  He has become a loner and now has few friends.  The friends Colgen does have are kept at arms length, with his main friend being Sonnet.  Sonnet tries to help out and keep Colgen from going over the edge.  This  task is not easy for her.  Both of them are determined to find out what really happened.  Colgen sets off on his own.  Even though he is deeply conflicted, he sticks or his morals (similar to The Bushido Code).  Sonnet won't let him go it alone and forcefully accompanies him.

   
Character Traits:  He never yields, will to keep pushing forward in anything that he is doing.  This will drive him even to self destruction if he feels it is what is right and good.  Feels the need for revenge, vindication and absolution.

Motivation:  What is his goal?  To ultimately avenge the loss of his entire family and wife.  What is his plan? Wade through the red tape B.S. and find out why/what happened to them, and by whom.  All he has to go by is a voicemail message from his wife at the time of the incident. The reference to the boat.  Use any resources to track it down.

Personality: Colgen is a bit of a loaner type, calculating, fearless, driven, obsessive, guilty, burdenend, enraged, remorse.  Tries to live by the Bushido code the best he can manage.  Yes lots of internal conflict and this tears at him.  Blunt and to the point and this can cause others to feel him as calluous or cold - in reality his few friends are all he has left and will defend them to the end.

Likes:  To have solitude but yet to have friends around, justice, to have a good laugh - although he feels guilty now when he does.  Knowing he has helped someone.  Looking out for friends and those who need help and can't take care of themselves. His likes play off of his internal conflicts.

Dislikes: authority -especially power hungry or corporate types.  criminals  - especially violent criminals, thieves, white collar type power hungry or greedy.  Liars, pretty much any shady characters.

Habits/Vices:   Habits include near blinding obsession to find out what happened, and coffee.  Only vice is anger that can take over and cause him to become blind to those around him.

Game Mechanics Examined

This post is about examining games mechanics and figuring out if you can have too many or not enough.  What is a good balance?  Instead of focusing on just one game I am going to compare and contrast two games – Seaman and Far Cry.   These are two completely different games but are both defined by there gameplay mechanics and interactions.  Yes you can have too many choices or a good balance between the two.  I'll explain...

Seaman is... well... seaman. A weird life sim of this create from hatching it from an egg to raising it and finally getting him out of the tank onto land.  You have a special microphone for the controller slot and this allows verbal interaction too.  It was really advanced for its time.  There is no set course and if you fail to keep care of seaman he will eventually die.  There are just too many choices and consequences.  Seems too much like work and less fun or entertainment.  It was neat at the time to raise this weird creature/pet thing and see what happens.  Well for me what happened is all of the non stop feeding, cleaning the tank, training and teaching.  Felt like raising a child at some points.  I lost interest.  Could be that I was younger and less focused.  Or with the game being so detailed the developers lost focus on being catchy and entertaining.   Maybe if the designers lightened up on the real life aspect of monotonous feeding, cleaning and water quality and found a few more ways to keep us hooked I would have gotten my Seaman out of the tank.  The Sims got this right, later down the road, with simulation that did not feel bogged down.

Far Cry on the other hand is an open shooter, based in the pacific on a remote chain of islands.  You were not lead on one specific way to get to a target in most missions.  If you were like me you were taking up different routes to confuse guards or take down the bad guys in ways that funneled then into a kill zone.  Nothing like pulling out the sniper rifle, dropping someone from 1200 meters away, and circling around after you spooked them all and running them over with a jeep.  Since you were not forced into one path like “corridor shooters” (i.e. Doom III, Painkiller) you did not feel as trapped or led by the hand.  Now to counter act this, if you did stray to far there was a bombardment called in to let you know hey you've gone too far.  This assisted in limiting your options in a way but acted as an invisible guide.  You do have waypoints and some mission parts are scripted to bring the story along.  Without these limitations you would just hop from island to island wasting time figuring out what to do.  Sometimes limited choices help in guiding the overall experience.

Just remember to keep a good balance, if you allow too many choices things become a chore.  Yes there will be players who truly enjoy this but the larger segment of the market will be left out.  On the other end too little choice ends up feeling constricted or scripted to the point you are just a passenger in the game car looking at the pretty scenery going by but not having any control.

Accessibility

This is an interesting assignment.  I am to get a better idea of what people with disabilities go through when trying to play a game.  I am to play a game of my choosing and go through several scenarios to help with understanding how to make games easier for end users to participate.  The game I chose is Mass Effect for the PC. 

10 minutes of regular gameplay:  The controls are pretty easy to setup and use.  Just an offshoot of the basic keyboard and mouse  first-person shooter.  As I originally played FPS games this way it is not difficult and makes, for me at least, easier and more accurate than a console controller.

10 minutes of gameplay with no arms:  Well this is quite difficult.  I was able to move around somewhat, but I could not aim and died in game frequently.  The setup is not conducive to using my feet.  The keyboard and mouse are not shaped to be used with my feet and I am not coordinated enough to using these appendages for control.  It is nearly impossible for me unless you are used to using your feet.  Possibly with modifications to the hardware, gameplay mechanics of the software and  tweaks to the sensitivity settings could adequate play be achieved. 

10 minutes of the gameplay with no monitor:  With the shooting, movement and character speech interaction menus purely visual based it was impossible to play.  You would totally have to rebuild the game up with lots of verbal feedback from all in game characters.  Also an interactive 3D controller, Novint Falcon comes to mind, would help with tactile feedback to help with the the virtual environment interaction.  Good use of surround sound would be needed as well.  Understanding gameplay to accommodate visually impaired users would require lots of testing and major changes in game design.  I admit it would be difficult to adapt Mass Effect.

10 minutes of gameplay with one arm:  I had the idea of using my feet as a movement controller and using my arm to aim.   I got the idea from Time Crisis as it had a foot pedal for interaction. I was good, not great but with practice I feel I could be decent.  I have a 5 button mouse and mapped the most I could to it.  Game play would be pretty good if a controller designed for the feet were involved.  I remapped the movement buttons but since the keyboard keys are small I need something bigger.  I probably would tweak the menus and layout a bit to help with navigation.  Overall the change would not be a major reworking.

Chalk Free Play

Today I am reviewing a  game entitle Chalk, for my SGD 112 class.  The game is seemingly simple at first.  Only a mouse to use as the controller?  If you view the help section it gives you the basics.  Then its off to the game!

• Challenge:  I'm not the greatest player at this type of game.  I can play ARMA with all 900 buttons on the keyboard memorized but it never came across as impossible.  It comes across as a mix of old school side scrolling shooter, mixed with a slight puzzleyness (yes I made up a word!) and a slowly building frenetic pace.  Gotta love the boss fights in which you have to discover the weak spots.
• Fun Factor : Even though I am weak at scrolling shooters I just can't help myself.  I want to try to string together combos and get a better end level grade.  Also there is a certain rhythm with this game, if you get in the zone you can go far.  The simple controls make it all the better.
• Replay value.:  Yeah kinda touched on this above.  I didn't get too far but I keep wanting to try and get further.  This game is addicting.  It makes me want to strive to be a better player.
• Story: Well here we fall short.  There is not really a good story or engrossing character plot.  The link for me to this game was the overall combos and gameplay.  You are not going to mistake this game for a Zelda or Silent Hill.
• Presentation: Even though the game is low resolution you can clearly see the hand drawn influence of the graphics.  Everything looks as it should be, drawn on a chalkboard.  The warm sound effect of the chalk on chalkboard sound (ahh grade school memories), catchy world beat influenced music and clean animations keep you going.  It does get a bit hectic when the screen fills up with items to cancel out of bullets to deflect. If we could get it higher resolution this would be a cherry on top.
• Controls:  Did you not see the “only a mouse to use as a controller” comment at the top? Simple, dead on controls are needed to counter the pace as it ramps up. The only hitch I have is I am not accurate drawing with a mouse.  So it took a bit of warm up to get into the flow.  Overall it did not distract.
• Special features:  There are combos, ways of combating enemies, and over bonuses that you have to unlock.  It adds to the replay value as not everything is spoon fed to you.

After playing this game I give it an 8 out of 10.  Now if we can only get a bit of story to go along with the addictive gameplay and tweak the graphics to enhance the feel.  I will look forward to playing this one over and over.

Chapter Three Book Work

So I am supposed to take game with a specific camera system and imagine it with a different setup.  Hmm, which game to choose?  Well today I will go for a game series that is a lot of fun Ratchet and Clank.  I will refer to the specific title Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty.  This is a third-person setup, lots of 3D platforming, not too difficult puzzles, lots of laughs and of course loads of enemies to dispatch.  Yes there is a zoom mode that you can look around first-person but this is not used too often, but does giver you a glimpse into an overall change in camera.  Now lets tinker with the design.

If we can imagine taking this game into first-person view things would need to change quite a bit.  First platform jumping in first person is never a fun thing.  It is more difficult to judge distance and when to jump.  This would put a damper on the level layouts and would for the most part need to be redesigned.  Especially the rail sliding events.  This would be too difficult to make the timed leaps while having to look at two different rails at the same time with only one point of view.  In first-person view the beautiful scenery would, for me,  not be as apparent.  This view would put you in a tunnel of sorts and you would notice less of the environment around you.  The games imagery is as much a part of the overall experience as the game play.  The animated interaction with objects would be missed as well.  When you go to climb up the air turbine towers you would not see yourself clinging to the sides.

Shooting directly at enemies would not be difficult and might be a little easier.  The difficulty would come in dealing with multiple combatants from different directions.  In third-person you can make out where you are getting him from a easier.  Also you would get to miss out on your character holding those funky weapons blowing things to bits.

After looking at these items you can see where I am going with this “what if” scenario.  Signature items like the platforming, puzzles and animation would take a back seat to a specific camera system.  Now I do love my first-person shooter games, but  Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty is not designed for that.  It is perfect as a third-person camera setup.  This allows for the most interaction and fun.  Overall the designers took the correct approach to the game design.

Journal One

Here I am, stuck in this depressing looking place.  Eastern Europe seems dirty and rundown.  I wish I could just pickup and head home.  Hmmf, home where is that?  You see the cops think they have got my wife's killer, Lark Leiriles.  Little do they know Lark is not the killer, I think I am......

So how did I get here?  I used to live in Seattle with my wife Michelle and daughter Sarah.   Michelle was a pulmonary surgeon and myself a structural engineer.  Our daughter is a  high school junior.  We had everything, a nice house,  a wonderful daughter,  great friends, and a very comfortable living.  All was well until I was contracted 6 months ago to repair an old church in Beja.  The walls were damaged years ago from years of ground settling, threatening to topple the place.   Ah Portugal, I figured it would be a working vacation over the summer.  The wife wanted to take a break from work and we both figured it would be a good time to take our daughter since next year she will be in college.

Once we settled into our new location I began work on the church.  I worked for two weeks on a plan to save the church.  My wife and daughter were busy each take taking day trips exploring the city, I would meet them for dinner in the evening.  Sarah and Michelle did come by a few times to see me on the job and take pictures of the church.  The church has reliefs carved in the facade.  They depict an classic synopsis of humanity,  creation, life, sin, lust, death....

At the start of week three I remember meeting a woman Vivian.  She is the local historian and wanted to make sure everything will be as original as possible.  We took lunch together over the course of the week to discuss the progress of the church.  Come Friday I ended up going back to her house.  Everything is becoming cloudy...Why?  What is going on?  This is not like me, I loved..no LOVE my wife.  It's like I am watching someone else but through my own eyes.

I clearly remember coming back to my rental villa late that night and trying to explain why I missed dinner.  I remember having an argument with Michelle as rage filled me everything went black.  I awoke with her lying on the floor in front of me, cold and still.  Her empty eyes were just staring at me.  Oh what have I done!?  Vivian showed up as if she had been called and quickly took me back to the church and explained everything will be just fine.  Police showed up an hour afterward and explained that my wife was the victim of  Lark Leiriles, a killer that had been on lamb for several months.  Lark was wanted in connection to several murders in Spain.  I felt shocked, confused and numb. Since the police stated it was not my fault I went along with it.   Something, someone is guiding me

As the police are proceeding with their investigation I realize where is Sarah?  The police inform me that I do not have a daughter, I arrived only with my wife.  No this can't be, I have a daughter, here is a picture in my wallet of all three of us.  I stare at the picture in disbelief as there is only me and my wife.  My head is too clouded, I need to get away, find out what really happened.  I take off to find out what really has happened, no matter what  or where this road takes me.

Game Genre Vs Type

What is a game genre? What is a game type? The definition of a each is as follows: game type is the description of the game play, and game genre is a a description of the narrative content of the game.
 For me Game Type and Genre are not as easy to define as first it appears.  With games taking bits of different elements you get a blending of these definitions.  Games are not movies or books and can't just be categorized into such defined categories.  What's the saying about a square peg and a round hole? 

Yes you could argue that the definitions of game genre and type are more broad, but then you would be helping my point.  I think we, as a society, have this need to conform games (and lots more) into a nice neat definition.  I assume this is great for marketing or putting a description on a box when space is limited.  But is this approach helping games develop as a proper media?  Whenever I describe a game, I rarely am able to fit the game into a single genre or type.  I just describe the game as is.  Take Fallout 3 for example.  Is it a role playing game, shooter, science fiction or frontier?  What about Borderlands or Portal?  Even a old 8-bit era game I have mentioned before, River City Ransom, is a mix of fighting and role playing. 

Of course there are exceptions.  A classic game such as Dragon Quest I is an RPG.    No one would mistake it for a puzzle game.  Black is another, just a  pure action game.  This just goes to show that we should describe the games with no rigid definitions, just let them be.  Give us what the game gives us, not what it fits into.

Free Play

Airport Security: The Game

Challenge
The game has three settings for difficulty but the lowest, Fickle, was sufficient for me.  The game is funny at first, as you are making fun of the TSA.  But don't take for that 2-3 seconds on each passenger or that line will be out the door and game over.  Build your combos for points to get a good score.  However the game becomes linear and you keep clicking over and over with no end in sight.

Fun Factor
Initially the game comes across as funny.  Since the game is very repetitive you tire of the overall joke that is the TSA.  It is funny you can allow a snake but not a pair of shoes, but this quickly becomes shallow.  After  playing this I can say if you do keep a rhythm with your selection of items you can keep the line moving and your combos building.

Replay Value
Unfortunately the game's reply value is low.  This game comes across as a novelty and time waster rather than a constants source of entertainment.  Once you get past the first few times they no longer allow cow skulls or t-shirts there is nothing else driving you to keep playing.  What is my ultimate goal or reward?  I need at least a little more.

Story
Story!?  What story? You are a new TSA agent and need to get passengers through the checkpoint.  Make sure you allow/disallow whatever crazy stuff is on the list.  There is no ultimate goal or real moral choices.  Take off those pants and get onto the plane Mr.!  The game play is a purely simple puzzle driven click-fest.  We don't need to stinkin' story.  Just laugh at the TSA and disgruntled passengers.

Presentation
The game runs in a web browser and has clean simple graphics.  This does allow for a multitude of players to have access as no special hardware is required.  The sounds go along with the progress of the game, from the airport announcements (which are funny if you listen to them) to the groans of passengers or the head TSA agent.

Controls
Controls are straight forward point and click.  Just glance at the disallow bar and quickly click on the blocked items.  Speed with a mouse is key here.  Great hand eye coordination, like most games, is key.  But for me you can only get so much satisfaction from constantly clicking. 

Summary
There is nothing else driving me to play this again, other than maybe having a laugh at the TSA.  Overall I wish you started out at a small local airport and had to move your way up to the big airports in Atlanta, Chicago or New York.  Maybe you could have a line jumper or something else different to deal with.  Also more variation on passengers, items, or maybe a bit if a mix in the timing (the way the line moves) would help improve the game experience and increase replay value.  Overall I give this game as it stands a 4 out of 10.

Chapter Two Book Work

A defining game design is crucial to your games.  It is will help sculpt the game you create. I have chosen to play three different games and determine what the overall design is striving for.  The three games I chose are Deus Ex for the Playstation 2, Foes of Ali for the 3DO (yes I do own a 3DO!), and Peggle for the PC.  After playing these games I realize now, more than before, each has a defining design choice. 

For Deus Ex it wasn't about the visuals, as they were average at best, but all about the story and moral choices you made along the way.  The story made this game to one of my favorites.  Without the story you would have had just an average looking shooter with options for modifications you can implement.   Foes of Ali on the other hand decided to push technology to the forefront.  As the opponents in the matches were full 3D, which at the time were very rare. Other visual delights include visible physical damage on each boxer, along with blood spatter, numerous different viewpoints and the use of real life boxers from that era.  The cost, however, came to gameplay.  The overall experience, once you got past the wow factor for the graphics, was not so hot.  You were amazed at the visuals but the sluggish matches This leads me to Peggle for the PC.  What seems to be a simple action/puzzle game turns into a  stupidly addictive game based on good old fashioned addictive game play.  There is no real story and the graphics are clean but simple and cartoonish but you don't need that if you are focused on getting all those pegs. 


P.S.  thank you for this assignment.  Now I have to go play Peggle.......

Gameplay and Control

Assassin's Creed

You get a fresh story of being of old assassin lineage with a modern twist. I was initially wowed by the game. The thought of running roof top to roof top, planning out my route to my target and the great visuals. Once you get into this game there are some glaring issues and one that eventually made me take a very long break from playing before I was finished. Movement is good for the most part. I do have issues with the sometimes frustrating camera and unresponsive controls. I will wall jump backwards when I want to jump up and catch a ledge. Combat is also a bit wonky. Seems I press the action button sometimes nothing happens. Also because of the canned animations you are stuck swinging away with your sword this for a second or two if you miss a target. This is not what I expect with a modern game. This seems too rigid and not fluid enough to go along with the idea of a free flowing game world.

Gameplay suffers from the all too familiar mission types and related grind. This is the flaw that made me take a long break. I became so bored with the missions and grind over and over. There should have been a few more mission types. This would understandable if I am playing an old school, random dungeon, gotta build up to level 80 rpg. Since this was a new game at the time there would be an expected learning curve. Most of these shortcoming were address in the sequel making for an overall improved gaming experience. Overall the game is a good first release and paved the way for the find franchise it has become.

High Concept

JB's stick it to 'em
Robert E. Pitts Jr.

Have you ever in customer service and wanted to tell off that rude customer?  Well now can!  Choose from an assortment of remarks, comebacks and things to do to get back at them.

Features

• Game board is shaped like an airliner, you move around the plane and hopefully you get off through the escape slide.  Inspired by flight attendant with JetBlue Steven Slater
• Play your cards against the customer cards in a battle of wills to see who can dish it out best.  Movement based on the card battles.
• Decision making is key.  Do you play it safe and wait to pull out the big card or go for broke and try to quickly make your escape?
• For even more entertainment, an interactive DVD is included that has comedic clips of customer service situations that you choose to play instead of cards.
• Pay through to avoid the dreaded managers office.
• Makes a great party game where everyone can have a good laugh

Motivation
Your ultimate goal is to slug through the customers and make your escape from customer service.    Tug at the emotions of the players as they relive those dreaded times with rude customers.  Anyone who has worked with the public understand that people can be rude, obnoxious and downright mean.  So feel free to let it all out and tell than what you really think.

Genre

The game is a mix of a board game, card game and the benefit of the DVD

Target Customer

The large percent of the population working in a customer service role of some sort.  Everyone from waiters to department stores employees.  People want a release from dealing with the public.  Read this quote from austenbronte who wrote on ABCNews.com. "Working with the GENERAL public is mundane and rude people like that woman can drive your insane, day after day, after day, after day. WAY TO GO STEVEN! You are free from that daily nightmare, now I wish you good luck in fighting the legal system and the airline, so you can stay out of jail."  - Taken from ABCnews story linked here - http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/steven-slater-jetblue-flight-attendant-quitter-online-hero/story?id=11369252

Competition

None that I have found.

Unique Selling points

• It would be the first game of its kind
• Allows people to role play tough customer situations finally get to stick it to rude customers
• Great party atmosphere game
• DVD allows for longer play and great laughs
• Tap into the potential of workers tired of dealing with rude people.

Target Hardware

Tabletop and a DVD player – according to the Digital Entertainment Group 2009 year end report, 92 million households have a DVD player.

Design Goals

• Easy - setup and game play
• Entertaining – Good laughs, replay value with different play throughs based on the cards dealt
• Group Play – get together and share the laughs
• DVD – videos appeal to the YouTube crowd and are campy and funny

Introduction to the Game Design Document

What is the purpose of a Game Design Document (GDD)? Well for me it is about a base structure to go by. The GDD is not every single aspect of the game rigidly in place but rather a good basis to build from and tool to guide the creation process. This way you can take ideas and list them so all parties can be in the same page, especially if changes occur to the design (and they will occur). If you are like me and have 9000 things going on at once you can't keep track of everything in your head. It is crucial to keep the GDD updated so developers can have all team members refer to this and be on the same wavelength. Especially if you work on a game with a very large group, a GDD will help with organization and future planning. Of course there will be some instances that may not require a GDD but having one is usually better than not. Just make sure you don't put too much effort into documentation rather than development, to work out the fine details.  Remember the final product is the game and not the paperwork.

The idea of a GDD can apply to any type of game design. With the board game idea, posted below, a GDD will help me along the creation process from basic design of the pieces, cards and to the overall rule playset. Even outside of the world of games companies have similar documents. In the field of cellular phones, I have an online reference tool to help in working with customers. So the concept of guidelines should not be foreign to most people. Now being lazy and not wanting to do it is your choice, but the lack of a GDD could lead to wasted development time and resources. Just take the time in the beginning to get a GDD created, maintain one throughout the creation process and the results will speak for themselves.

Blog Game Review

Next up for SGD I have to review a game.  I'm going to go back a while to one of my favorite games of all time – River City Ransom for the 8-bit NES.  This classic does not get the credit it deserves and I rarely read about it in any “best of” lists.  Now for my video game rating scale it goes from 1-5, and  is based on :

    1 – Going to the dentist to get a root canal
    2 – Mowing the lawn – hey its not that fun but it does give you exercise
    3 – Getting a new car
    4 – Hanging out with your favorite band, celebrity, etc
    5 – Chuck Norris roundhouse to the back of the face! (because nothing is more powerful!)

Using the this scientific rating system I declare this game to be a Chuck Norris round house to the back of the face!   This is an early hybrid game.  Take one part Double Dragon, One part RPG, add a sprinke of humor and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Viola!  It was very innovative, detailed and pretty lengthy for its time. There are only a couple of minor drawbacks, that I will explain, but you can't go wrong with this title.  (Also check out the release with slight tweaks for the Gameboy Advance system)

• Gameplay :   For the 8-bit era this was a pretty detailed and ambitious game.  Initially you think the game is a simple beat 'em up similar to Double Dragon.  However once you start playing you realize there is a lot more to it.  After you defeat characters they drop money.  Use this to upgrade your characters by eating various foods or purchasing technique book/clothing.  You have various weapons and lots of different areas to fight in. Now one of the minor drawbacks is the password system.  The cartridge did not have a battery backup, like Zelda. It is tiresome to enter that large password.  The other minor drawback is enemies can sometimes hide off screen and get cheap hits.  However once you get used to the flow of the game you can actually exploit this to your advantage.  The real meat is fighting, saving up loot and building up your character.  Multiplayer is also present so you and a friend can team up to take out the bad guys.  
• Graphics:  As an original NES game the graphics and details are really good.  The environment is detailed, you get to see hilarious expressions on enemies faces while getting punched or kicked. Also there are animations of characters panting if low on energy.  Characters are a good size and small touches to streets, parks and buildings add interest.  There is no noticeable drop or chug in frame rate.  The way the characters are drawn adds to the over all feel of the game.  Kind of reminds you of the 50's era street gangs in a way.
• Sound: Well what else can you say about NES sounds.  You have all the appropriate music (that changes for good old boss fights), typical smacks and thuds.  Nothing spectacular compared to modern systems but good for the time period and with what the hardware can produce.  It does not get annoying like some games of that era and since you will be engrossed in the game it will all blend together.
• Story:  Well this is a plain Jane go rescue your girlfriend type of story.  This is also a minor drawback.  What does help the story though is the interaction with characters.  Bosses will give you information as to what is going on and with whom you need to find next.  This isn't linear and sometimes you have to back to previous areas to meet up with someone new.  The enemies add some zing as well with funny sayings as they get pummeled – BAAAAARRRRFFFF!
• Learning Curve:   There is nothing too difficult.  Just level up your character for better combat and defense options. Sometimes figuring out what food/item/book does what is a bit of random purchasing and memorization.  Its not a knock against the game, just makes it fun to figure out what is most useful.  Just make sure you watch your stat screen and keep building up your character.
• Control Scheme:  Since you are operating a game based on a simple controller it is just the directional pad and the A, B, start and select buttons.  (Ah the good old days)  There is no customer layout, but if it isn't broke don't fix it.  The setup works perfectly with this game. You'll be beating up everyone in no time.

Chapter One Book Work

Here is another assignment for my SGD class in which I have to pick a game series that has evolved its game play mechanics over the course of the Franchise. I decided to go with the home console versions of Grand Theft Auto. Over the course of the franchise you have added full 3d worlds, more interaction options within those locations, while the core mechanics have been enhanced but remains familiar enough to retain loyal fans. The first two entries were top down 2d with basic point and shot mechanics, limited environment interaction and missions. Also there was no multiplayer.

Probably the biggest change and improvement was introducing 3d in GTAIII. This opened up a new realm of possibilities and made the first two look very simple by comparison. You got a lock on targeting system. It started out not so hot but with each release has been tweaked and has become quite good. It has become more realistic where needed with swimming, eating, changing clothes, gun play, driving mechanics but not over the top to hamper game play. You also have more detailed environments that add the way missions are played or planned out. You can run and gun or pick the off from a rooftop across the street Who can remember the disappointing drowning deaths in GTA III? This was addressed in GTA: Vice City by adding swimming and has remained ever since. This is meant to be a fun criminal simulator not a life simulator like the Sims series.  After all it is a video game and meant to entertain not bog players down with real life.

With the downloadable content to enhance and extend the original game you get more missions, and game play variants. True multiplayer was added as well to allow friends to join in the fun. A much needed cover system has been added with GTA IV. With the years lots of little tweaks and improvements have been implemented. I could go on almost forever about each title and what was added. So I will keep it simple. From the original top down-2d game play to the GTA IV there has been a major evolution with the Grand Theft Auto series and I'm sure there is more in store.

Uh Wow....

For something unrelated to games, I have run across this gem on YouTube.  Who Killed Captain Alex?  Apparently the greatest movie ever to come out of Uganda.  Enjoy.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BymeLkZ7GqM&feature=player_embedded

Final Project Idea

Just some more information about the board game idea to help give more detail. The comments and remarks on the deck cards are generalized and come from various industries not just the airlines. If you get a positive result you pick another card from the top of the SR deck. If negative you do not get another card. The catch of course is to strategize your card use. If you are bad/unlucky at utilizing your cards you will keep moving backwards all the way back to start and never escape. You can also get a bonus SR card on select spots on the board. If you run out of cards, land on select spots or select cc cards with the mangers picture you go the managers office and lose a turn. There are 3 mangers offices around the board. When you go the managers office you go backwards to the previously passed office or if you are not past the first office return to start. For your next turn you get 5 cards to start with.

To add a little spice, since we can use any medium other than a video game, is to have an interactive DVD with random customer and service rep interactions. You can utilize the DVD by landing on select spots on the board or selecting CC deck cards with the DVD icon. Some clips will be positive for the player or negative siding with the customer - movement will come from these. The clips will be around 30 seconds or so and will be campy and funny. The result will make you move forwards or backwards. You do not lose a card with a negative DVD playback result just the spaces.

If you win your escape from dealing with customers, you get to select a victory video sequence from the DVD. It will show a funny video of what happened after you left the world of customer service.

P.S. Another option as well for direct head to head competition is to play with another person in charge of the CC cards as you battle directly for victory and escape from the customer service nightmare!

Brotherhood of Leet

Check this out http://www.8bitwars.com/ - someone came up with the brilliant idea of making a "war" documentary about the 8-bit console wars of the 80's.  The web series is made with a nod to the Band of Brothers series.  The videos (2 episodes so far) have "archival war footage" and "interviews" with the war vets.  Pretty funny stuff. 

Fifteen Minute Board Game

Well I have to do a bit of work. This is for my Simulation and Game design project. Gonna list my idea for a board game. Yes board game, they still do exist. Now I think almost everyone has been in a customer service role at some point. Taking this perspective and how rude, obnoxious and just plain dumb people can be I have created....


JB's Stick It to 'em!

Yes, you get to vent a little frustration by selecting quotes we all have wanted to say to a customer. For example in my line of work I get Einsteins that drop their phone in a toilet, come to me and complain about how you can't just give them a new phone. Well now you can select a good come back from your deck and proceed with the classic..."You are an adult and should have taken care of your phone instead of treating it like a 3 year olds bath toy."

The Rules are simple but with a bit of strategy. You have two desks of cards. One deck is the Customer Cards deck (CC), the second is Service Representative deck (SR). CC cards are comments, complaints, obnoxious remarks and general dumb customer interactions and are weighted with negative values from -1 to -10. SR cards are comebacks to complaints, inventive ways to get back at customers, general ways to frustrate the stupid customers of the world and are weighted with values from 1 to 10. You initially start with 10 cards in hand after shuffling the deck.

Steven Slater

The board is shaped like an airliner, you move around the plane and hopefully you get off through the escape slide. Movement is determined by how you play your cards. Meaning SR-CC=movement. Move forwards or backwards the appropriate # of spaces. Note this is inspired by my burnout from years of dealing with overly rude customers in the customer service industry and JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater. (This is why I want a different degree and out of customer service!)

Controllers

One more thing for the night.  Is it me or can we please get more ergonomic Playstation 3 game controllers?  Before anyone starts system bashing, I do own pretty much all systems going back to the Atari 2600.  I've just been playing the PS3 a lot here and my wrist are killing me.  Seriously move the analog sticks Sony!!!!  Excuse me now, Mr. Carpal Tunnel and I have a meeting.

What is going on here?

Dedicated to the mind dribble of myself and whatever I feel that comes to mind within the world of video games and entertainment.  I'll find things to ramble on about or rants to make.  Please feel free to reply and make fun of me if you wish.  I'll probably do that to myself as well....