Legal and Ethical
The ethical and legal issues mainly revolve around the collection, use, value, and cost of the information. Both ethically and legally, the principle of the autonomy of the individual is central to medical ethics. Offering players choices that reflect real-world moral complexities. Implementing non-violent alternatives to conflict resolution. Using age-appropriate content and ratings systems. The more common ethical issues that are brought up are different variations of discrimination, and the amount of violence in video games. Discrimination can come in varying forms. The most commonly seen in video games is sexism and racism.
This video provides the basics on what to do and what not to do to create an ethical video game.
Historical Cases
Cooking Mama: Cookstar. The game was released without any approval of the IP holder Office Create, which started a legal dispute against the game's publisher Planet Entertainment,resulting in the removal of the game on the Nintendo EShop and an extremely limited print run.
Cookstar ostensibly released on March 31, 2020. The game was briefly made available on the Nintendo Switch EShop, but pulled shortly after its release. Additionally, an announced PlayStation 4 version was not released at the time despite being listed on several storefronts. IP rights holder Office Create later stated that Planet Entertainment was not authorized to release Cooking Mama games on the platform. Its publisher claimed that it was the first implementation of blockchain technology on a major video game console, using the technology to implement a form of digital rights management; however, the details of this proposal were never expanded upon publicly, and blockchain support is not present in the final game in any form. The game was developed by American studio 1st Playable Productions, but the company later removed all mentions of the game from its website.
This video provides proof on what the develops did while making the game. The creator goes into depth on how they mined bit coin and used the Cooking Mama licence illegally.
Links to FMP
Linking this into my FMP I can research into issues of copyright and being appropriate for the market. For my FMP I will use asset only I have created meaning I shouldn't run into ant asset stealing problems due to it being my own work. However, throughout this document, I will credit games such as Plague Inc and Stradew Valley for inspiration with game mechanics and real life symptoms. To make it appropriate for the market I will not include any harmful messages and demonstrate that the infections and death in this game are very bad and not glorifying what happened in the past. I will do this by creating characters with human characteristics rather than land npc's to create empathy when they get infected.
This video provides how to make a game that represents animals ethically and how I can use my rat character to convey that rats didn't cause the plague (fleas did)
Resources and Tutorials
Sprite Work
This is an overview of all the sprite work tutorials I will involve in my process of creating all my pixel art assets. By using the skills I learnt from these videos I can fully improve my pixel art animation skills. This relates to my FMP by my goals to create a visual unique and appealing game to showcase mt art and animation skills.
Coding Work
This is an overview of all the coding tutorials I will involve in my process of creating all my play-able game. By using the skills I learnt from these videos I can fully improve my coding and game creation skills. This relates to my FMP by my goals to create a game that incites the player to play and make a fun/ unique game.
Aesthetic Work
This is an overview of all the documentary's and videos on the black death and 19th century England. By using the videos I can create a more realistic game about the black death as if it was in the 19th century. This relates to my FMP by creating a cohesive theme of the Victorian era and a simple plot that can be expanded on.
Development Help
This is an overview of all the indie developers interviews an development logs. By using the logs and interview I can take inspiration on the planning process on how they created their own games. This relates to my FMP by my goals to create a game and get the best grade I can get in this course.
Other Sites Used
Marketing
In the dynamic world of game development, the marketing team is a game-changer. Their role extends far beyond traditional promotion; they're pivotal in crafting the game's identity, strategizing its market entry, engaging with fans, and analyzing success.
Plague Inc
Steam
Steam is a digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide game updates automatically for Valve's games and expanded to distributing third-party titles in late 2005. Steam offers various features, such as game server matchmaking with Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) measures, social networking, and game streaming services. The Steam client functions include update maintenance, cloud storage, and community features such as direct messaging, an in-game overlay, discussion forums, and a virtual collect-able marketplace. The storefront also offers productivity software, game soundtracks, videos, and sells hardware made by Valve, such as the Valve Index and the Steam Deck. Plague inc is rated 'Overwhelming positive' on Steam.
Steam page
Steam page
Positives
One main positive people share with Plague inc is it's realistic depictions of illness and symptoms. Most reviews always state this as a reason they enjoy the game due to it being interesting to see what would happen if these illnesses did exist.
The reason it impacts people positively is due the sense of realism in this game. This is the games unique selling point by creating a game based on some sense of realism it makes the impact of your choices more believable and gives a sense of power and control. This makes the game more enjoyable due to people creating possible scenarios on how the world could end and how people could react to new illnesses.
I can adapt this into my FMP by following the research I did on the 'Black Death' and it's symptoms : rashes, tumor like warts, and excessive vomiting. By doing this I can create a scenario where people can imagine what the black death would of been like in the 19th century more realistically and draw people into this fiction timeline of our real world. This will elevate my game due to the themes of wonder and mystery on what could happen. If I did this and made the symptoms of illness vastly different it would break illusion.
review
review
review
review
Negatives
One main negative people have on steam with Plague Inc is it's repetitive nature. Most negative review share the same sentiment that the games game-play get's very repetitive and boring after a while. They state this is one reason the don't enjoy playing the game as much as others.
This reason makes a huge negative impact on people since people are saying they get board after a while due to it simple theme of just clicking location a map and the reading how many people die afterwards. If people get board after playing it for around 1 hour that shows me people want more adaptive and more interactive game-play rather than simple clicks. This simple fix can elevate Plague Inc by making it more unique and enjoyable.
I can prevent this in my FMP by creating unique mechanics and a simple semi-open world layout were you can explore ( other street or butchers). I plan to make new mechanics with certain thing you do , example taking an open sign and putting it on the door - possible mini-game- and tricking some people to go into the bar infecting each-other. By doing this I can improve on a lack luster replayabilty by having multiple thing to do in different play through with different endings.
review
review
review
review
Using the reviews on Plague Inc on Steam I can infer that my main goals to improve my FMP and find positive insight into positive trends and what not to do. I will follow the pros of Plague Inc by researching the symptoms of the black plague and adapting them intro my FMP - different sprites and animations- to make my game feel more realistic and the symptoms don't feel out of place in this world. I will also follow how to not make my game boring and repetitive by having multiple different strategy's with a range of unique npc's and different endings to make each play-through different.
Reddit is an American proprietary social news aggregation, content rating, and forum social network. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down ("upvoted" or "downvoted") by other members. Posts are organized by subject into user-created boards called "subreddits". Submissions with more upvotes appear towards the top of their subreddit and, if they receive enough upvotes, ultimately on the site's front page. Reddit administrators moderate the communities. Moderation is also conducted by community-specific moderators, who are unpaid volunteers.
community
community
Positives
One positive with the Plague Inc's Reddit community is that there very dedicated and helpful to new players. They always answer questions in a kind manner with helpful insight. There also known to create there own memes that don't show any sights of being offence of NSFW. Even though the Reddit community has 25 k people in this group it always has at lest 2 people online everyday showing peoples dedication to being in this group.
This positive community shows how a game can bring people together and talk calmly about topics and opinions on it. Creating a healthy fandom is important with reputation as a good fandom that doesn't harass fans or the creator or create media with negative stigma gains respect form other people and draws people into playing the game. Plague Inc having a helpful community create a positive image for its game by showing that it's players are civil and kind.
Ways to create a positive community for my FMP are by listing to fans and their opinions, by doing this I create a sense of reliability with them and show that I care about their ideas. A good fan-base is crucial for a game since without a fan-base you have no one interested in your game and with a bad fan-base your linked to whatever bad actions a fan does.
Development Logs
Ndemic Creations is an English company based in Bristol, England. The company is best known for creating the video game, Plague Inc. Ndemic Creations was founded in January 30, 2012 by James Vaughan. Their first game, Plague Inc., was released in 26 May 2012 for the iOS. The game was a critical success, having over 100,000,000+ downloads on Google Play as of February 2022. In 2014, Ndemic Creations partnered with 20th Century Fox to create the "Simian Flu" plague, a disease originated from the movie "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes". In 2018, Ndemic Creations released Rebel Inc., a strategy video game maintaining order in a region to stop the insurgency and to achieve 100% stability in the region. In 2020, the Cure Mode update was released on Plague Inc., a mode in which instead of infecting the world, the player must instead try to stop the disease from spreading and to get rid of the disease.
Development log
Development log
Positives
One positive thing they stuck with within their development logs was the act of making your game engaging and stand out in the market.The creator of Plague Inc states on his development program page "As a first time, indie developer working on Plague Inc. for over a year, I found developer blogs and stories to be an extremely useful source of information and inspiration. Whilst waiting for Apple to approve Plague Inc., I wanted to share my list of Do’s and Don’ts for developers in a similar position to me (an idea, limited technical experience and a desire to release a great game).
This development log tells us how to create a good plan on making a game. By focusing on how people will react to a game and how to create a unique concept that will stand out in the market. By researching on what people want at this moment and other games that are successful in the same genre you want your game in you can adapt and use feedback from other games to improve your own.
I can adapt this style of planning into my FMP by researching games such as Plague Inc to see were they went well and were they went wrong to adapt their pros and cons into my FMP and focus on what kind of games do well in the strategy-simulation genre to create a more compelling game that people want to play due to improved mechanics and story form other games.
Negatives
However , one negative thing the creator figured out when developing their game was time management and scope creep. To quote from their logs "Be too ambitious – Better to release a complete game with a smaller scope than never release at all. Everything always takes longer than expected! " "Give up when you hit delays, problems or complications – these are part of the game making process and are challenges to be overcome. Plague Inc. had a 3 month pause in its development due to other priorities and whilst it was mildly frustrating, the team did not give up. Instead, we used the opportunity to recharge ourselves and then threw ourselves back into the game when ready"
Their development log shows us their big struggle was time management and scope creep. They claim to release a smaller game than an unreleased one due to most things taking longer than expected is a more viable option for indie developers since dead-lines and release dates being pushed back can create a negative response fop fans or people wanting to buy it ; it shows a level of incompetence's since you seem to not be able to follow a dead-line creating skepticism in your new fans of your ability's.
I can use the developers short coming to prevent the same issues of scope and time management in my FMP by focusing on the basic game-play before doing different task's - endings, mini-games, extra animations- to create a simple playable game. By doing this I don't have to worry about not creating a simple game that can't run and focus on making a game with health, intractable objects ,infection counter and an ending before adding enemy's, mini-games and extra add on's.
Above is a link to an interview with the developer talking about their games. Using the marketing research I have done with Plague Inc I can infer that to create a positive game I need to research the topics in the game I want to use and expand on - illness- create a welcoming community and focus on a healthy scope. I have also lern't not to create repetitive and boring game-play so I plan to add at lest on mini-game and different ways to infect people besides from biting.
Stardew Valley
Steam
Stardew Valley is rated with an 'Overwhelming positive' response by the steam reviews.Over 730,000 reviews to be exact. And over 9000 'Extremely positive' reviews.
Steam page
Steam page
Positives
One huge positive people boost about this game is it's art style and animation style. One of it's main gimmicks and draw is it's appealing ascetic art style. Most reviews mention the gorgeous art and how visually stunning and adorable the art is.
The reason this is an impactful is due to how people relate to different art. Art styles also influence players' sense of immersion and presence within the game world. Realistic graphics enhance immersion by creating a sense of authenticity , while stylized or abstract visuals encourage players to engage with the game's unique aesthetic universe. This is good due to making your game recognizable and unique to the public eye and create a sense of style to a game and make an immersive atmosphere.
I can adapt this into my FMP by following the research I did on the Stardew Valley art style and how they make their animations and characters unique an lively in pixel art. By doing this I can showcase my pixel art skills and improve my games visuals by taking inspiration from Stardew's style. Having a recognizable and appealing art style will make more people remember your game and makes it easier to be spotted just from a simple screenshot since the style is unique to the FMP.
review
review
review
review
Negatives
However, one main negative people say about Stardew Valley is the pacing through out the game. While this game is a simulation game with different outcomes, people agree that some gimmicks take up to much time or the days are to short to do what they want. Most reviews mention that they wished they days were shorter of you don't have to grind as much.
The reason this is a negative impact is due to people feeling like their time is wasted when they don't get rewards for their work. They feel like they don't have a lot of time to do tasks or achieve goals and when they due it's only for a small prize. This makes them feel frustrated and unwilling to pick up the game again. This is bad since making people feel like their effort is wasted makes the game feel more like a chore than a game.
I can prevent this feeling of wasted time and unnecessary stress in my FMP by giving a reasonable time period ( around 3 to 4 minutes). This can give the player time to think on what to do and to bite people. This will help later of if they choose to do mini games. I also want sound ques to indicate time to the player - a clock bell chiming around the half way mark. This will improve my FMP by creating less stress for the player to enjoy the game without worrying about making sure all tasks are done.
review
review
review
review
Using the reviews on Stardew Valley on Steam I can infer that my main goals to improve my FMP and find positive insight into positive trends and what not to do. I will explore it's art style and improve my pixel art skills to create memorable and nice visuals. I will also prevent my game form feeling like a drag by adding a good amount of time or even increasing time in certain areas.
The Stardew Valley Reddit community has an astonishing 2.7 million members. Filled with questions, art, fan-fiction's and their own games to showcase.
Positives
Main positives from people is that the creator of the game is very involved in his community. He takes feedback and thanks his supporters by playing the game, by doing this his community feels respected and makes him feel more human than an unknown game developer like AA games.
This impacts the community since he makes him feel more human and helps the players feel more heard and seen unlike other game developers. This is important to make your community since by having a relatable and open main developer you have more trust in them compared to a nameless creator. Many fans feel happy with watching their development go from a small project to this famous game and it helps with the feelings of closeness with this indie developer.
How can I create a positive community? I can do this by making sure I feel human and open to anyone who plays my game. I can also do this by taking their criticisms and improve based on support they give me to improve. This relates to my FMP by using the aspect of feedback to reflect on my work to make the people who play my game have a fun time ; this is important to me since I want to make a game that is interesting and not a drag.
Development Logs
Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as "Stardew Valley". The game was originally released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It allows up to eight players to play online together.
community
community
Offical Statment
Inclusivity
comments
Offical Statment
Positives
One main positive with ConncerndApes layout of development was making public development logs. Since the start of his four year development he presented his development logs to the public to how what he has created.
This was an important step for his notoriety since it shows us how he presented his game and what steps he took to get were he is. It also created trust in his fans by proving that their was work done giving them a sense of stability since they had proof on this game being real. Intern this created more traction and hype for his game when it got closer to release. You could argue without his public logs his game wouldn't be as successful since his logs created a dedicated fan base before the game was even released.
I can incorporate this into my FMP by constantly updating my development logs on my FMP site. By doing this I can present to people looking through my site mu processes on making my game. This helps people to understand my goals and how I over came problems. This will also improve my FMP by following the targets to get the best grade possible.
Negatives
One negative I have noticed in his interviews and development logs is that he seems to worry that his work isn't perfect for everyone. He stated he has gotten burnt out with updates and making sure his community is completely satisfied.
This impacts the game negatively due to players feeling burnt out by the lack of time their giving to complete in game tasks and their own farms. This creates a sense of tension and stress with players due to the fear of not completing the game or certain objects in time due to strict time restraint. This makes players feel upset when either they have to play longer than they ant to complete a goal with a fast time restraint or that they couldn't do anything in time due lack of perpetration.
I can incorporate this into my FMP by creating enough time to explorer the level and do mini games. I will use peer feedback to find what is the best time for each level. Doing this will make game more fun instead of quickly having to look for everything to do and feeling like you don't have much time. This relates to my FMP by showing that I can use peer feedback in my work to improve it, this shows my ability to take criticism and ability to adapt with people.
Above is a link to an interview from the creator and two videos analyzing the development process. Using the marketing research I have done with Stardew Valley I can infer that to create a positive game I need to research the art process and how the creator works. I have also lern't not to make game-play tedious and repetitive, I will combat this by adding mini-games on certain days to create a more unique play-though each time.
Plauge inc
This section of my research is about the PC/mobile game Plague inc. Is a strategy-simulation game in which the player indirectly controls a plague, which has infected patient zero. The player can choose between game modes and pathogens and complete the objective set by the game mode by evolving the plague and adapting to various environments. Why did i chose this game? I chose this game because I like the different elements that make this a proper strategy- simulation game, I feel like this genre is very underrated and unique, which is why I want to incorporate this genre into my FMP. For example how if you do certain tasks you unlock new positive or negative setbacks. I also like how the longer you play the more new obstacles come and undo your work. And the main thing i'm inspired by is the illness aspects and how it spreads and the symptoms people get form them.
Official Trailer
Game-Play Overview
Made by the indie team 'NEDEMIC Creations' in 2012 you start by looking at this world and creating your own pathogen and infect a part of the globe to start a domino effect to destroy all of humanity with one disease. As it spreads, you’ll earn points that will upgrade various aspects of the microorganism. They can become more infectious, transmitting through blood, animal hosts, or airborne particles. This is an important area to focus on early, since you want it to become a true pandemic. Other important factors include resistance to temperature extremes or basic treatments and symptoms that increase the disease’s infectiousness, potency, and lethality.When more people have and spread the disease, the faster it’ll continue to disperse and earn more points for further upgrades. Humanity will start researching ways to cure this plague though, and which upgrades you choose at what time have a significant outcome on how successful you’ll be. Only by fully eradicating the human population will you earn victory, meaning that a few thousand people surviving on one island counts as a loss.
The main consensus is that this is a good game 7/10 overall and is rated for teens and up.I will also follow suit in this rating due to similar themes of graphic death and illness. "The quality of Plague Inc.’s simulation is surprisingly high. It feels great to dump research points into Avian Transmission just in time to transfer your plague to spread to several new countries thanks to a great bird migration. Plague Inc. seems simplistic at first, but actually eradicating humanity is a satisfying balancing act between spreading your pandemic as quickly as possible without putting the human race on high alert. One mistake I made early on was to make my virus too lethal by mutating in the Organ Failure trait – it was killing people before they had an opportunity to spread the disease."
- Quote form IGN by 'Justin Davis
The success of this game lead to a sequel which released in 2015 , a DLC and a board game. In my opinion I think the mechanics of this game will be good for my FMP due to the themes of infections. Also using how people will infect others accidentally as a plot device in the game inspired my unique npc's and how they deal with the plague differently. I will use the inspired game play in this game to elevate mine by using the mechanic of finding the best way to infect by using strategy.
A simple tutorial
Use of implementation of illnesses and realism
This showcases how the game runs and the tasks you need to do for completion. I'm most inspired by the increasing and strategizing aspect of the infection since it fits within my FMP.
Pathogen designs
Pathogen designs
This showcase each model of the pathogens showing off their renders and how they incorporate to the game.
While this game has a simpler artistic approach it's use of 3D renders of it's pathogens are quite spectacular. It present a movable 3D render of the pathogens (bacteria, worms and more) with a grim and de-saturated colour pallet with a rough texture to showcase a realistic pathogen to the player and to make sure they know which one is. Its light red lighting on-top of the simple science like background creates a feeling of looking into a microscope and seeing which illness you want to choose before playing , creating a more endearing game design. While only in the game at the begging and some menu items this render clearly show the player what disease they have chosen and depicted it realistically. While my game has a simple 2D art style I want to follow on creating a realistic illness. To do this I will research the plague and it's symptoms and make sprites resembling characters dealing with those symptoms create a realistic plague piece like Plague inc. Examples being giving characters ,rashes,making them visibly sick and showing all the graphic nature of the bubonic plague.
Design showcase
UI
The UI is an integral part of the game-play as it has many options. Examples being. The upgrading system, The world map and icons to invade and how it impacts the people ; not including the basic menu to stop the game. They are important due to the genre of this game being a strategy simulator and due to that - not needing sprites, or difficult mechanics- its main focus is having the options and new routes featuring the buttons you press for each individual screen. The human option will show how you can impact the people to make it more powerful , making it air born or making people be sick and faint for example. The world map show the areas were you have infected people, at the bottom shows how many have died because of it and shows if people are creating a cure. Finally the upgrading system is for the despise itself and how you can mutate it to infect more people ( example having it spread by cows so food is contaminated.
The designs layout is very sleek and readable , which is a good quality to have in a point and click game. They have many icons with clear images that shows what is what. Example for the human issues increase it shows things like a pair of lungs, when hovered over it will give a small text saying that it will cause lung problems. Its simple red background with a png of a gene correlates to it's theme of an infection simulator. It also show the map with a dotted gradient in the background to showcase what your world is like when your making a new choice on the spread of your disease. Its theme of reds and white create a nice contrast and keeps within its darker theme with is deep reds and dark gradients surrounding it. Its box like layout clearly shows what going on at all time making dissensions easier since its simple to find things. Its clear to read text helps when the player need to understand something instantly. I will take inspiration from this games clear UI by creating a UI with easy to read menus and obvious images to accompany the icon for no confusion. By doing this I will improve my FMP and link this research to my game and prove I have use my FMP to its fullest.
The menus showcase the title , start and quit buttons how to play and a certain mode to customize your plague before playing. By doing this they have created an easy to recognize menu screen that people can instantly know what games its from. This is due to the gradients and colours, the title and how the text is laid out. I want to incorporate this into my game by having a recognizable UI and menu screen that people later on can spot out and name due to its easy to notice traits. This will be good for my game because it show that I know what makes a game recognizable with colour palettes and text.
UI Showcase
This is a simple play through of Plague inc and its showcases how important each screen is and how good the UI is at demostarting that.
Layout
Since Plague inc is a clicking game and not an open world or other types of games, there's only a couple screens including the world map, pathogen upgrades and human issues. The world map is a realist depiction of our world map also showing slight colour gradients (its more yellow in Australia). Using the positive and clear UI it shows places were airports are so be able to infect areas with a denser population. Using general knowledge ion the world will help since this is realistically correct with its HIC or a LIC data making it pretty spot on , on how populated places are. The backgrounds for both the upgrades screens are pretty simple to not overstimulate the eye by using block colours and lined / dotted gradients to create a small texture to make the UI icons pop out more. Form my FMP I will also heavily research my surrounds ( the towns in the Victorian era) to accurately create and replicated old Victorian building and places to be realistic like how Plague inc is realistic with it's map.
I want to incorporate with theme of change in my FMP and the way Plague inc does this well and thorough is by changing the map when you infect more people. Besides from the kill count and other UI elements telling you how much damage you have done, the simple aspect of the places with the highest infections turning red is a good and obvious indicator on how well your doing. It also show what the player needs to do next instead of retracing their steps to not infected a highly infected country already. By making the map red it gives of the grim vibes of you massacring people and show how deadly this actually is. I want to show a small change in the town of my FMP were things get more fogy and dirty as less people walk to get the grocery's and the start of people dying in the street. So this idea will inspire that mechanic in my own FMP.
World Layout
This video showcases how easy it is to detect if you need to upgrade your plague or try to branch to a new location to increase your death toll.
Mechanics
This game has technically tow modes ( DLC) the normal Plague inc mode were you create and upgrade your plague to destroy the world and a newer mode were you upgrade your cure to save the world from the plague. While both games share the same mechanics they have very different out comes.
Playing as the hero
Quarantine allows you to lock down borders or do lock-downs indefinitely on a continental level or temporarily on a national level. These are the main sources of non-compliance.Response is what you can do against the disease, be it by reducing infectivity, reducing lethality, reducing outbreak infections, or even reducing the chance for the disease to cross the borders.Operation is the category is similar to the abilities tab in the main game. In this tab you can fund vaccine research and manufacturing, intelligence gathering, reducing non-compliance and a little more time by increasing authority. It is also where you can fund disease-specific initiatives. The main goal is to decrease the amount of deaths in the world and cure whatever plague is rampaging through the globe.
Just like the original its a simple strategy game that you click icons to decide new idea's on what to upgrade and where you can help. The main mechanics are earning points to upgrade your cure and save the world and make good options on how to accomplish that.
This video showcases the Cure mode in Plague inc. It shows us how it differs from the original game yet has a similar play style.
gameplay example
Playing as the villain
Playing stealthily all the way through and constantly sticking to this strategy is not a good idea. You need to know when to stop playing stealthily. Playing aggressively is effective for gaining more DNA quickly.Over time, some of your diseases may develop random mutations. These random mutations can increase Severity or Lethality, which can disrupt your strategy or cause countries to take countermeasures early. If you aim to infect as many countries as possible stealthily, don’t forget to devolve. The main goal is to infect everyone before a cure is perfected.
The original its a simple strategy game that you click icons to decide new idea's on upgrading your pathogens and where you can infect. The main mechanics are earning points to upgrade your plague and destroy the world and make good options on how to accomplish that.
While both modes mechanics for this type of genre and game work well for their style I don't think for my own FMP I can use this research due to the fact I want to make an open-world strategy simulation meaning I need more that jut clicking icon. I want to have sprites and animations to interact with objects so this reference for mechanics wont apply to my vision.
gameplay example
This video showcases the normal mode in Plague inc. It shows us how the game runs and what disitions you have to make to properly infect the world.
FMP Relation
How does it relate to your FMP?
This relates to my FMP due to the similar themes of infection and strength by numbers. It also has many mechanics and idea's I want to expand and try out in my FMP so that's why I wanted to look into detail on this game.
What strengths can be derived from the resource?
The strengths from this game in my opinion are it's , readable UI, it's fun and addicting simulation- strategy game-play, its' realism with illness and how you can use humanity's flaws to it's advantage.
What weaknesses can be derived from the resource?
Its lack of mechanics and movement, my FMP is a 2D strategy- simulation game were you explore the small street to find way to infect people and due to this games only movement being a mouse click I could use it's research on their mechanics to apply to my FMP.
What specific inspirations and influences can you draw from the resource to help support the development of your own work?
My main inspiration I have adapted from this game is it's realism with illness and how people act when theirs a plague. By having a more realistic angle I can create a more realistic simulator game that falls in line with my brief.
Stardew Valley
This section of my research is about the PC game Stardew Valley. Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It's calling card is it's art style and cute ascetic. Why did i chose this game? The main reason is due to the art style and simple yet dynamic animations and sprites of it's play-able character, npc's, props and backgrounds. I also adore the character building and personalty they have given their characters making the players have a certain draw to other and build an emotional connection to them. My main research is about its characters and how I can incorporate the good trait Stardew has to improve my FMP and create unique and distinguished characters.
Offical Tralier
Game-Play Overview
Stardew Valley is a 2016 farm life simulation role-playing video game developed by Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Players take the role of a character who inherits their deceased grandfather's dilapidated farm in a place known as "Stardew Valley". The game was originally released for Windows in February 2016 before being ported to other platforms. Stardew Valley is an open-ended game, allowing players to grow crops, raise livestock, fish, cook, mine, forage, and socialize with the townspeople, including the ability to marry and have children. It also allows up to eight players to play online together. Players interact with the npc's who inhabit the town, including engaging in relationships with them. 12 of the villagers are able to be wed and live at the player's home and assist in tending the farm. Players are able to conceive a child with their spouse or adopt one in the case of same-sex marriage. Players can also engage in fishing, cooking, crafting, and exploring caves filled with materials and ores to mine or creatures to combat. Players can take on various quests to earn additional money or complete specific collections of materials (called "bundles") to restore the town's Community Center or pay certain amounts of money to complete 'JojaMart' bundles. Completing bundles rewards players with various items, including seeds and useful machines. Completing multiple bundles grants players access to previously restricted areas and game mechanics. All these activities must be metered against the character's health and exhaustion level, as well as the game's internal clock.
The main consensus is that this is a great game 9.5/10 overall and is rated ten and up .I will not follow suit in this rating due my themes of graphic death and illness. "Stardew Valley is not only the best farming game I’ve played, it is one of my favorite games of all time. That myself and others keep returning to this eight-year old gem each time it gets even the smallest update speaks to how it’s truly a masterpiece in the genre it both reinvigorated and has come to define. It is chock-full of bizarre and memorable characters, moments, and conversations, not to mention a never-ending to-do list that fuels the completionist in me. It’s also an intensely strategic adventure, using its cozy farming activities and cute pixel art to make the deeply engaging time management challenge underneath it all effortlessly inviting."
- Quote form IGN by 'Shailyn Cotten'
The success of this game Stardew Valley revitalized the genre and inspired subsequent games, contributing to the revival of indie games and pixel art and bringing them to a wider audience. Stardew Valley has been praised by critics for its music's integration with the game's atmosphere. According to the report by 'NME', Stardew Valley has been ranked first among the best video games for reducing stress. It has also been nominated for 10 awards and have won two ; being the Breakthrough Award and the 'The World Is Grim Enough Let's Just All Get Along' Award during the Steam and Golden Joystick awards.
A simple tutorial
Use of implementation of characters
This showcases how the game play and interacts with the world. I want to incorporate the open world aspect into my FMP.
Character Designs
Each character in Stardew Valley has a range of different designs and styles not just including the romance-able npc's but the background npc's to. They have a range of ages, genders and ethnicity's to show a range of people and types that player may be drawn to. There is a lot of unique ascetics in this game that at lest one person can relate to with their own ascetic and personality. Examples being Sebastian's emo/ grunge outfits and his iconic black side swope hair , Leah's artistic nature and messily done braid and Abigail's rebellious nature with her purple hair and sleeveless jacket. By having both a scaled down sprite and an up close bust shot of the characters we can easily depict and spot a certain character for far away just by the colour palettes, shape language and iconic design choices -Elliott's long golden hair and Krobus simple blob like shape. I think Stardew masters character designs due to the reasons I have mentioned.
Character design showcase
This showcase each different character you can meet in Stardew Valley and their personality's just by looks.
This links into my FMP due to my goal of creating dynamic npc's that roam around the street with different looks and personality's. This can be done by given them different colour palettes, shape language and a defining character design trait. This could be the grey mans top hat , or the blue women's long blonde hair. By doing this I can show my competences with designing character and show that my art abilities are high level. To the left are simple character sheets to understand what they would look like in a non 2D style.
Design showcase
Character Building
Stardew Valley is known for it's range of unique and compelling characters that you can be friend and even romance. This games fan-base has created so many fan works depicting their favorite npc including art, writing and even cosplay's. It's clear that they have achieved the difficult goal on creating lovable character that are so different ; not every own is this sweet kind person some are blunt, arrogant, invasive and reckless yet that is what compels people to them on how different they have good and bad traits. An example , Sebastian. Unlike his colder and quieter looks he's one of the kindest npc's in game; he shows quality's of being sensitive and heavily empathetic showing a lot of affection to the player when romanced. However, he is also weak- willed falling under peer pressure - this can be seen by his smoking habits- and his highly secretive nature. Just by these basic traits I can interpenetrate that he want to be more social and friendly but due to ether past experiences or anxiety hes afraid to show his real self and puts up this scary smoker front but deep down hes this little loving sweetheart.
 |
|---|
Stardew is fantastic with creating memorable and loved characters with their own respective fan bases. They have done this by giving each character their own memorable traits ; such as Elliot's vast library or Shane's gaming room. They also use their designs to subvert personality's - as mentioned above Sebastian's nature- but also create character that act how they dress, example being Harvey he is shown as a quite nerd type and is. Each character has a balanced list flaws and good traits ranging form kind to bitter , quite to loud and practical to irresponsible. This is what makes them loved , the fact their all human and show different characteristics that might draw or turn away player since it feels more realistic and people can resonate with them more with those bad traits.
In my FMP you can talk to really interact with the npc's only being able to bite them. So how can I create recognizable characters with no words? I can create personality just by mannerisms and character interactions. An example the 'Charmer' he will stroll slowly enjoying the out doors ; however, if he sees the damsel get bitten he might scoop her up and carry her to safety getting infected him self. This shows a nature of selflessness yet arrogance. Through the game even in later days if he sees anyone in trouble he might step in risking himself to protect people making his a morally goo character. On the other hand, the 'Aggressor' is known to quickly pace to get out of the street as quick as possible and will stamp on you if bitten showing her short tempered nature and unlike the damsel will put up a fight if the 'Charmer' saves her showing his ignorance and her dislike to he helped. These small details creates more depth in characters making the player change strategy's to beat them and get somewhat attached to them throughout the games as they slowly die. Using the tactics used above I can improve my FMP by using traits and different mannerism to create good character building.
character showcase
This video ranks every character showing peoples opinion on them.
Sprite Work
Stardew Valley has an iconic 2D pixel art style of sprites, including backgrounds, props and characters themselves. The games sprites are composed of sprite sheets that show a front, life, right and down movement. Having this simple movement makes them be able to walk more fluidly. Stardew Valley is know to impressive and gorgeous sprite work and cute animation, which is why I was inspired to chose this game to research - mainly about the art style and interacting mechanics.
For my FMP I research how 'ConcerndApe' creates art and animate their sprites. I watch videos form professional artists and looked at the official sprite sheets and bust shots and how they create them including deigning , outside elements and colour pallets.The graphics were officially made in Photoshop and Paint.NET I would use apps like Pixel Art to create my sprites by using my references to create dynamic sprites with darker colour palettes - to fit my theme- and to follow how they present their characters side profiles and walk cycles. By doing this I can create a cute and simple 2D style a kin to older games.
By incorporating this research into my FMP I can showcase not just my artistic ability. If I can create sprites that instantly that are visual appealing and nicely correlate in the background. By doing this I can showcase my ability to replicate a nostalgic 2D style with a feeling older arcade games to create a small ascetic game with darker colours and pretty art work.
sprites
This showcases each new sprite added in an update showing the small details. And how they present their sprites.
Animations
Stardew is filled with small animation details. From the steam on food , the simplistic walking animations and the players farming animations - watering , pulling food , using a hoe. These small animations bring life into a game and can indicate personalty , such as a walk or how their idle animations looks or customs animations for characters - eg Sebastian's smoking. The animations helps the game reach it wanted ascetic of a quaint farm game by incorporating jumpy movement to give it some personality and dynamic movement.
I used Kyle McArther's Art Station tutorial to help with animation and 2D sprite work. I also used videos from AdamCYounis as a helpful tutorial for 2D. I also used my general knowledge on animation and my past work as a basic reference.
Incorporating the sprite knowledge in Stardew , using the tutorials above and using the app Pixel Art I can showcase my artistic ability to create pixel animations in my sprites. Using knowledge form the first project- seen below- I can create smooth retro like style of animation using frame by frames and tweeing. Doing this will elevate my FMP die to more of my art skills helping to improve it and making it seem more high quality with just simple animation. Such as , a biting animation , throwing up , attack , picking up women and running animation to start with and eventually creating the death animation and butchers animations.
Animations
A simple showcase of past and current animation I have done in 2D
This showcase shows an animator reviewing and dissecting the games art.
UI
Stardew has a simple yet cute UI following a theme of a wooden ascetic using a light coulor palette to be pleasing on the eyes. The UI show the player : their inventory , the date and time, amount of money, a small synopsis, text boxes and an outfit showcase. This help the game have a clean layout and design by showing important information that's not taken up the whole screen. The UI is necessary for displacing information that is a key part of the game ( example being how much money you have) it would make the game very confusing if it wasn't there. This is a good example of UI since it doesn't overstimulate the player with information but cleanly presents it.
The menus showcase the title clearly and present which style of game its going to be just with the layout alone. It has a pleasing background which makes the UI pop out and readable making the player easily recognize what game it is just by its iconic look. Below showcases the option menu, create a new world, load world, turn on co-op and leave the games ; their accompanied by small images that correlate to each statement - globe of co-op and a grown plant for load. This is a good example of UI due to it legibility and iconic style that makes it memorable.
In my FMP I want a simple UI that displays important information but ins't to clunky resembling Stardew Valleys UI. I want to incorporate a timer, a date system, basic menu - pause , quit, settings- and infection counter. To do this I will use my sound and surroundings to display information. I will have a clock in their background to shows how much of the day is left , new papers saying what day it is and hint that people are getting ill and a basic heart and menu system displayed at the top that doesn't get in the way of game-play. I might add a small icon of the 'E' key to help players know what button it is to interact with people and objects. By going this I can improve my FMP and make it stand out by making the UI a core game mechanic and make it feel normal and not out of place in my game making it more unique.
UI changes
This is a simple showcase on how you can decorate your own UI.
Layout/Backgrounds
Stardew Valley is known for it's grand landscape as creating a farm is one of the main gimmick's of this sand box game. It's 'Animal Crossing' adjacent style of game-play were you create homes , paths and build new structure your own way the landscape and layout can very person to person making it feel more unique an special to the player. Just like it's sprites Stardew has some gorgeous landscaping and warm colour pallets to give the lively farm feeling more time to shine. With this pixel style you can feel a sense of nostalgia to older games you would have on a 'Game Cube' or arcade machines , which can draw in an older audience.
Incorporating this into my FMP I will use the sprite style to not make the backgrounds feel out of place compared to my sprite player and npc's. Doing this will help my goal of creating a 2D games that resembles something that could of came out on an arcade machine. This will improve my FMP by having compelling backgrounds I can fully create an environment that depicts my theme of the Victorian age with out looking out of place showing my artistic ability to create backgrounds that are able to blend in with the sprites.
Backgrounds
This video shows a players farm town and how the layout can be adapted.
Mechanics
This game has many mechanics beside from walking and interacting with objects ; for example the 'day cycle' mechanic. The player may choose to go to bed at any hour to sleep and progress time to the morning of the next day. This is done by moving into the area inside of any bed, and a dialogue will prompt them to confirm the decision. However as a reminder, as time passes midnight (12:00 am) the player's character will show that they are tired and in need of sleep. Sleep will restore the player's Energy and Health to full if they go to bed no later than midnight and are not exhausted, and to half if they pass out or are exhausted. The longer past midnight the player stays awake, the less energy they wake up with, with about 75% restored if they sleep at 1 am, and 50% if they sleep right before 2 am. Regardless of when the player sleeps, there will be no further impact on the next day – the player will wake up and become active at 6 am as usual, even if they stay up late. Therefore even though the day will go on until 2 am, there is no requirement to stay awake for the whole day; conversely there is also no immediate need to sleep as soon as the clock turns to midnight.
The game saves only after the player has gone to sleep and the daily profit. breakdown has been accepted, signaling the start of a new day.
These mechanics improve the game by giving the players a sense of emergency and time management. It makes them strategie more on how to properly get your work done in a certain time. This makes their game more unique by going the player incentive to make the best decisions before consequences happen.
Incorporating this into my FMP I will code a system were you have a certain amount of time to infect people ( around 3 minutes) and use the clock to indicate when you time is almost up. I will also code unique reactions to being bitten, interactive objects and a simple running animation -W A S D - to make my game playable and fun. By doing this I can incorporate the theme of managing time and making the best decisions in the ten day game to get the highest score. This will improve my FMP by making my game more lively and using both UI and the backgrounds into the game and making them core aspects instead of static art.
Game-play Example
This video showcases the mechanics that can be used in this game and possibly in mine.
FMP Relation
How does it relate to your FMP?
This relates to my FMP due to the similar themes of artistic use and aspect of UI and time management. By exploring the art side of Strawdew Valley I can have good knowledge on how to incorporate it's strengths into my work.
What strengths can be derived from the resource?
The strengths from this game in my opinion are it's , readable UI, it's beautiful visuals. The artistic side of this game makes it more memorable and compelling than others since all it takes is looking at once image to know it's Stardew Valley. Incorporating memorable art and style in my game will improve my FMP.
What weaknesses can be derived from the resource?
The weaknesses from this game research incorporating my FMP in my opinion are the open world aspect and dialogue. My FMP ins't an open world and doesn't but a 3 room layout and I wont have any interactions with npc's unless its biting them so that part of the research isn't that useful to me.
What specific inspirations and influences can you draw from the resource to help support the development of your own work?
My main inspiration I have adapted from this game is it's art style and dynamic characters. By having a more unique and dynamic npc's I can create a more lively game that people can study how they work and grow more attached to them due to their range of personality's.
Victorian Era
This section of my research is about the Black plague and the Victorian era. The Victorian era of the United Kingdom and its overseas Empire spans the 63-year reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). By this time, the role of the monarch was to reign, rather than rule. Victoria served as figurehead for the nation. And the Black Death swept across Europe, killing up to half of the population. There were two main types of plague: bubonic and pneumonic. Why did I chose this era and plague? Because I adore the vibes of this 19th century England and was curious to how they would realistically deal with something like the black plague. My main research is about Victorian life its, people and homes, how they carried themselves their mindsets and for the plague how it wiped out so many people and how can I properly incorporate it in my strategy simulation FMP.
History
The Victorian era spans the 63 years of Queen Victoria's reign over Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901. It was a time of great power and wealth for Britain as it expanded its empire across the globe. The Victorian era saw revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, which shaped the world as we know it today. These transformations led to many social changes with the birth and spread of political movements, most notably socialism, liberalism and organised feminism. Victorian society valued a high standard of personal conduct across all sections of society. The emphasis on morality gave impetus to social reform but also placed restrictions on certain groups' liberty. The period saw significant scientific and technological development. Britain was advanced in industry and engineering in particular, but somewhat less developed in art and education. Great Britain's population increased rapidly.
While the plague didn't happen in the Victorian era I adore the vibe and atmosphere of this time period and want to base this game on , What if the plague carried over to Victorian England. This is a good idea due to my ability to branch out with my history knowledge and be able to accurately depict what could of happen this the black death came back with the mentality , medicine and class of a Victorian.
I chose this era for my FMP due to sed ability to articulate an idea on how Victorians could handle the plague. This links to my game due to the location of a busy London street filled with people dressed in the 19th century. I want to create characters ; designs and personality's based on current events and stereotypes found in this age with homes and building a kin to it's real life counterparts. By doing this I show my competence and ability to create a realistic story loosely based on real events but given a new flare - adding the black death.
Victorian life explained
This shows a simple timeline on the whole of the 19th century showing all the aspects I want to incorporate in my FMP.
Victorian Fashion
During the early and middle 1860s, crinolines began decreasing in size at the top, while retaining their amplitude at the bottom. In contrast, the shape of the crinoline became flatter in the front and more voluminous behind, as it moved towards the back since skirts consisted of trains now. Bodices on the other hand, ended at the natural waistline, had wide pagoda sleeves, and included high necklines and collars for day dresses; low necklines for evening dresses.During the 1840s, men wore tight-fitting, calf length frock coats and a waistcoat or vest. The vests were single- or double-breasted, with shawl or notched collars, and might be finished in double points at the lowered waist. For more formal occasions, a cutaway morning coat was worn with light trousers during the daytime, and a dark tail coat and trousers was worn in the evening. Corsets stressed a woman's sexuality, exaggerating hips and bust by contrast with a tiny waist. Women's evening gowns bared the shoulders and the tops of the breasts. And men's formal clothing may have been less colourful than it was in the previous century, but brilliant waistcoats and cummerbunds provided a touch of colour.
I can incorporate this fashion and style into my npc sprites. By researching men and women's clothing I can realistically depict what they would wear and apply it to a pixel art style. My goal is to make it instantly be recognized as the Victorian era by their: big long coats , poofy dresses that trial at the back and their iconic top hats. By doing this I can showcase mt knowledge and realism with this game in a simple way , just by showing clothing.
By incorporating this research into my FMP I can showcase not just my researching ability's but my artistic one. If I can create sprites that instantly tell you what time period it is with out needing to be told I
feel like I would have correctly depicted this time period. Especially if its done in my portfolio sketches and simple 2D sprites.
Victorian fashion explained
Victorian fashion explored
This shows how clothes and items looked like in the 19th century and how I can realistically depict it in my game.
Victorian housing
Early in the Victorian era (up to the 1840s) houses were still influenced by the classicism of Regency styles. However the simplicity of Regency classicism fell out of favour as affluence increased and by the 1850s the Italianate style influenced domestic architecture which now incorporated varying quantities of stucco. From the 1850s domestic buildings also became increasingly influenced by the Gothic Revival, incorporating features such as pointed, projecting porches, bay windows, and grey slate.In Victorian times, population growth, and the Industrial Revolution which saw a migration of workers from the countryside to the cities, resulted in successive housing booms in the 1850s and 1870s that saw the creation of millions of houses. These catered not only for the rich and the new "middling-classes" but also for the poor.In deprived areas, Victorian houses were often very small, for example, back-to-back houses built in extremely cramped conditions. Some of these areas became slums or 'rookeries', and were later cleared. Some smaller, two-up two-down houses still survive, for example in Salford, Greater Manchester.
Street showcase
This showcases what Victorian homes looked like and how I can incorporate the designs into my FMP.
I can incorporate the layout of old homes to instantly give the player an indicator of what time period we are playing. By using elements like a connected home, brick patterns and bulky windows and doors I feel like I can create a home a kin to the ones built back in the early 19's. By also using small details like lampposts and the lack of the London Eye in the background but have Big Ben shows a subtle nod to what time period this is. My goal is to achieve the feeling of looking into a piece of time without whilst incorporating other elements not in that time. By doing this I can showcase my attention to detail to make a compelling background and sense of realism.
By incorporating this research into my FMP I can showcase not just my researching ability's but my artistic one. If I can create a background and props that instantly tell you what time period just by looking the the details I feel like I would have correctly depicted this time period. Especially if its done in my portfolio sketches and simple 2D sprites.
Victorian housing explained
Victorian Life
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Women were expected to focus on domestic matters and to rely on men as breadwinners. Women had limited legal rights in most areas of life, and a feminist movement developed. The Victorian era saw a rapidly growing middle class who became an important cultural influence, to a significant extent replacing the aristocracy as British society's dominant class.
In my FMP I can use many instances to create dynamic characters that you don't even need to talk or interact with. An example, the feminist movement. By having a more dainty women with a more stereotypical personality ( crying when bitten, enjoying getting saved ,a bit of an air head) compared to another more hostile and independent women ( that will put up a fight when getting 'saved' ans stomping on you when bitten) I have shown to types of people during the movement . By depicting how both men and women react to the feminist movement embracing it -red women and green man- or not wanting to follow it- blue women and grey man- is a simple way to depict different personality's without dialogue just actions and mannerisms. This can be simple as people walking fast to get out of the street as possible or strolling along to just have a nice walk.
Victorian stereotypes explored
The way I could incorporate this in my FMP is by having different personality's in my npc's by using the stereotypes found in this era. An example, the 'lady's man' has a charming demeanor and will sweep a girl of her feet when bitten to save her, This show some nature of selflessness yet shows he's not the brightest bulb since he is so set on helping people he will get infected. On the other hand, the 'skeptic' will in-danger people by knowingly enter places - like the bar- when infections are high and infect a bunch of people due to his selfish wants.This creates dynamic game-play , since you have to figure out who will react in a certain way, can you uses their flaws to help you, who is the smartest to infect first?
Victorian life explained
This shows how many men and women lived in the Victorian age and how I could use this research to improve my realism in my FMP.
The Bubonic Plauge
History
The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as 50 million people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. In 1348, the disease spread so rapidly that nearly a third of the European population perished before any physicians or government authorities had time to reflect upon its origins. In crowded cities, it was not uncommon for as much as 50% of the population to die. Half of Paris' population of 100,000 people died. In Italy, the population of Florence was reduced from between 110,000 and 120,000 inhabitants in 1338 to 50,000 in 1351. At least 60% of the population of Hamburg and Bremen perished, and a similar percentage of Londoners may have died from the disease as well, leaving a death toll of approximately 62,000 between 1346 and 1353. It has been suggested that the Black Death, like other outbreaks through history, disproportionately affected the poorest people and those already in worse physical condition than the wealthier citizens.
In my FMP I want to explore the black plague in a Victorian England setting. I wanted this plague due to the more notorious knowledge on the deaths and symptoms making it recognizable than ether a custom plague or a more obscure one. By making the whole gimmick a simulation of what if the black plague was around in this era is in my opinion a really interesting idea and by having a real life threat done this way elevates my game since the player knows what happened with the black death and create a sense of realism, which i'm going for since I want this game to feature factual elements of both the real plague and the Victorian era.
I want to incorporate this into my FMP because I want to create a simple game that has factual elements about both topics since it can elevate my research and portfolio ideas by creating realistic symptoms of the black plague and improve my game. This can be incorporated by similar symptoms be reflected in newspaper ans the npc's and the fact you play as one of the reasons the plague spread - a rat.
Bubonic plague explained
This shows what caused the plague that killed millions and how it can be applied to my games.
Plague symptoms
By the early 14th century, so much filth had collected inside urban Europe that French and Italian cities were naming streets after human waste. Bacterium was present in rodents and suggested the rat was the main vehicle of transmission. This lead to the following symptoms in humans due to the fleas and rats. In men and women alike it first emergences a certain tumour in the groin or armpits, some of which grew as large as a common apple, others as an egg. From the two said parts of the body this deadly gavocciolo soon began to propagate and spread itself in all directions indifferently; after which the form of the malady began to change, black spots or livid making their appearance in many cases on the arm or the thigh or elsewhere, now few and large, now minute and numerous. As the gavocciolo had been and still was an infallible token of approaching death, such also were these spots on whomsoever they showed themselves. Symptoms of the plague include fever of 38–41 °C (100–106 °F), headaches, painful aching joints, nausea and vomiting, and a general feeling of malaise. Left untreated, 80% of victims die within eight days.
In this FMP i'm going to explore how people are effected with plagues to elevate my game. By adding small details such as, rashes , spots and welts I can enhance the themes of infecting people with this deadly illness. By incorporating this I feel like I can elevate my game by showing the graphic nature of this real event and connected with the character building making the player feel bad as they see the kind damsel get sicker and sicker , throw up in the street and eventually see her die in the streets near the end of the game. I want to create a factual game mixed with emotion and wondering that is this what would of happened if the black death was around in the 19th century.
I want to incorporate this into my FMP because I want to create a simple game that has factual elements on the plague and how it effected people. I can create sprites of each npc dealing with the different symptoms - rashes, red eyes, warts- adding people fainting and throwing up in the street. This creates a sense of realism and empathy of seeing these innocent people suffer , that will create a memorable game.
Plague symptoms explored
Bubonic plague explained
This shows what the plague did to people and what symptoms I could incorporate in my game
Plauge Docters
A plague doctor was a physician who treated victims of bubonic plague during epidemics in 14th-century Europe. These physicians were hired by cities to treat infected patients regardless of income, especially the poor, who could not afford to pay. Plague doctors practiced bloodletting and other remedies such as putting frogs or leeches on the buboes to "rebalance the humors."A plague doctor's principal task, besides treating people with the plague, was to compile public records of plague deaths.The typical mask had glass openings for the eyes and a curved leather beak, shaped like a bird's beak, with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor's nose. The mask had two small nose holes and was a type of respirator which contained aromatic items.In certain European cities like Florence and Perugia, plague doctors were requested to do autopsies to help determine the cause of death and how the plague affected the people. Plague doctors also sometimes took patients' last will and testament during times of plague epidemics, and gave advice to their patients about their conduct before death.
For my FMP I want to incorporate the aspect of plague doctors as your main enemy. They will patrol around day 5 and increase in numbers around day 10 and will walk up and down the street. They can't be bitten and attempting to will get you an instant game over by being stabbed with their swords. You must hide in small areas - bar stools and some taped up bricks- to avoid there gaze to not get a game over. By creating a real threat makes the player have to figure out ways to adapt their game-play making the FMP more interesting.
Incorporating this into my FMP helps makes my game factual and fun by having a new threat that can give you a game over , which is based on real plague doctors. I will create new sprites an a attack and notice animation to improve my FMP by showcasing my knowledge and art skills,
Plague Doctor's explained
This shows us how Plague doctors helped during the black plague and how I can use this in my FMP
FMP Relation
How does it relate to your FMP?
This relates to the FMP due to the fact it's set in the Victorian era and how they deal with the black plague.
By exploring both topics I can make my FMP more interesting and realistic.
What strengths can be derived from the resource?
The strengths from this research are the themes and ascetic style of the people and streets. By using these in my project I create a clear theme and appeal to my game that is memorable without needing anyone to physically say what time period it is.
What weaknesses can be derived from the resource?
One weakness I can see is the lack of colour of this era creating a nice palate but a simple one that can show to much expression without looking out of place. Also the lack of concrete evidence on if the plague would happen in this time period since it happened in the 13th century not the 19th century. So i have to use my knowledge and estimate.
What specific inspirations and influences can you draw from the resource to help support the development of your own work?
I chose this theme to research due to my goal to create a realistic Victorian plague simulation that creates a realistic what if situation and feel like having a concrete theme and time period makes my FMP stronger since I have a theme and explored it well.
Game Maker
How it works
GameMaker was originally designed to allow novice computer programmers to be able to make computer games without much programming knowledge by use of these actions. GameMaker accommodates the creation of cross-platform and multi-genre video games using a custom drag-and-drop visual programming language or a scripting language known as Game Maker Language (GML), which can be used to develop more advanced games. GameMaker is known to be used for games such as : Undertale, Pizza Tower and Deltarune. Game maker is mostly free excluding some extra paid assets making it very beginner friendly for new programmers. The latest iteration of GameMaker was released in 2022. GameMaker accommodates the creation of cross-platform and multi-genre video games using a custom drag-and-drop visual programming language or a scripting language known as Game Maker Language (GML), which can be used to develop more advanced games.
Above is screenshots of how GameMaker runs and how the UI is laid out. To the left is an official video from the GameMaker channel showcasing all games made by the GameMaker program. This proves that GameMaker is a good site and a reliable site due to the out turn of games created using the platform.
FMP Relation
How does it relate to your FMP?
This relates to my FMP since i'm using GameMaker to create and code my game. By using this program I can learn new skills with coding and create a play-able game to obtain the highest grade I can get.
What strengths can be derived from the resource?
It offers an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface for novices; powerful scripting for more advance coders. I have used this to code in the past so I feel like this will be a strength for me since I have past experience with the program.
What weaknesses can be derived from the resource?
However, the free version doesn't allow the creation of any executable's ; learning curve for novices is pretty steep. Its weakness is 3D and maintainability/performance for large scope projects. GameMaker lacks some core systems of other engines, however those can usually be supplemented with 3rd party libraries.
What specific inspirations and influences can you draw from the resource to help support the development of your own work?
I looked at GameMaker tutorials and researched on how to use certain how to do certain codes. An example is learning how to use collision masks on sprite objects.
Game Maker
How it works
To quote form a review of PixelArt "I use this site to draw sprites for games I develop, it is a very good site to draw pixel art, you can even set key-binds for tools, which in my opinion is pretty good, there are too many things about this amazing site to list, but the best part is it is a website, you would think this would be a program or something but its not, it is a full on website, you can even make gifs, you can make custom gifs on a website, 10/10 definitely would recommend for any sprite makers" The app is also free to download and use.However,it's known to have some lagging problems due to it not being a downloadable app but a site.Which means there a lot of ad's.
Above are screenshots showing the UI and how it works of PixelArt. To the right is an in-depth tutorial on how to use PixelArt and it's capability's.This proves PixelArt is a good and helpful sight of pixel art due to the tutorial being easy to understand even for a beginner.
FMP Relation
How does this relate to my FMP
This relates to my FMP due to using this site to create my sprites and animations.By using this program I can improve my skills and create good piece of art for my FMP and create a unique and visual appealing game.
What strengths can be derived from the resource?
The UI is easy to read and learn making the art process decent and not complicated like other platforms, it also has a rang of tools. It free as well.
What weakness can be derived from the resource?
Due to it being a website and not a downloadable app it has some problems involving saving and internet connection, which makes it somewhat stressful to use.
What specific inspirations and influences can you draw from the resource to help support the development of your own work?
I can use it's range of colour pallets to create clean and appealing sprites, which will make my art work stand out.
Art Styles
Colour Palette's
Skin
Clothes
Hair
Eyes
By using a soft and pastel like colour palette with the damsel I can create an aesthetic of someone who's soft and gentle . Using cool blue's and light pink accent I create an image of someone who is dainty and want their apprentice to look pleasant and clean. These colour's indicate to the player that this npc might be more fragile and an easy target.
By using a harsher and bold colour palette with the aggressor I can create an aesthetic of someone who's hot-headed and aloof . Using sharp reds and muddy brown accent I create an image of someone who is distant and anti-social. A palette and design with these tones will indicate to the player that this npc might be a danger to them.
By using a cool and cohesive colour palette with the charmer I can create an aesthetic of someone who's social and maintained . Using pleasing blues and distinct green eyes I create an image of someone who is a lady's man and extroverted. This palette and design with these tones will indicate to the player that this npc might be more frequent in the game and easier to learn their style of game-play.
By using a bland and simple colour palette with the skeptic I can create an aesthetic of someone who's lazy and a loner. Using basic creams and contrasting blue eyes I create an image of someone who is anti-social and dislikes standing out (unlike the aggressor who want people to know she's dangerous). This palette and design with these tones will indicate to the player that this npc might be harder to find and more secluded to infect.
By using a simple colour palette with only 3 main coulor's I can create the motif of a mouse. By using a brown palette I can create the illusion of camouflage in the street with a pop of red showing a subtle hint of danger and evil . This indicates to the player that your the villain but you don't reslise the scope of your viallny.
By using a dark and cohesive colour palette with the Doctor I can create an aesthetic of someone who's a realistic plauge doctor. Using dark browns with hints of grays I create an image of someone who is a real doctor and is a danger for the player. This palette and design with these tones will indicate to the player that this npc will be a main problem for the player.
This is a mood board featuring my inspirations for my sprite work including animation, human sprites and backgrounds. By compiling all these images I can create a cohesive final product by reflecting on my inspiration. This links to my FMP by presenting refrences for my art work to make them better and to achieve my grade I want.