March 2021 - Entry n°1.
There is no point in beating around the bush, this was all done in 3 days, a massive time mismanagement issue on my behalf. Passing over the details, I was mistaken on the due date, and proceeded to rush this project as quickly as I could, eventually concluding in something that is subpar to the vision I had in mind.
Nevertheless, the development logs must go on. Originally, I had planned for a boardgame that mixed Stellaris and, Endless Space. All three games are heavily political and would allow me to touch onto subjects with regards to said politics. The idea was quickly shut down, as it seemed far too ambitious for the unit, and I was offered to present another project instead. This was in March 2021.
Stellaris (Paradox Interactive, 2016)
Endless Space 2 (Amplitude Studios, 2017)
The project was, in hindsight, far too ambitious even for the time period given for this unit. Strategy games take months to build, with systems upon systems mingling politics, armies, expansion, etc. Whilst I could do something closer to the cult-classic game Diplomacy (A.B. Calhammer, 1959) renowned for its devious simplicity, or a card game based around managing one’s kingdom like Reigns (Nerial, 2016), it would simply take too much time and playtesting which I could not afford in person, due to social constraints at the time. That said, it is not something I plan on throwing aside, but something to work on for a rainy day. To clarify, this was meant as a board or card game.
I returned the next week with a “schedule stacking game”, a bizarre mix of Tetris (The Tetris Company, 1996), Tricky Towers (Weird Beard, 2016) (which already a spin on Tetris), and your average schedule planner. The goal was simple: to stack your activities during the day until they reached a line, when the line was reached the day had ended, and depending on what activities were stacked together, certain things got done. These things were necessary to progress to the next level, where the difficulty ramped up. The game would add things variables like wind force to topple the stacking unstable towers the players built, or gifting various kinds of blocks with different effects, so on and so forth.
Schedule Stack Game Idea
Tricky Towers (Weird Beard, 2016)
As a game, this was far more manageable to execute, and allowed me to play around with physics. It also related closely to an issue I am diagnosed with: ADD. Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is, according to the NHS website, a ‘condition that affects people’s behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating, and may act on impulse.’ Put simply, it is a learning disorder that affects many aspects of daily life, from impulsivity to forgetfulness, restlessness, impatience, and in our case: poor organisational skills, carelessness or lack of attention for detail, inability to focus or prioritise, etc.
Ironically, that is exactly what happened with this project, but it is no excuse. People with ADD can either take medication to compensate for the lack of chemicals the condition is symptomatic of, or they can develop placebos to combat their faults. Extensive lists, agendas, alarms and constant reminders help the person go through their workdays and daily lives in order to keep things properly organised and effective. This can be relentlessly tiring.
Example of Time removing value in the game
As a result, the idea with this game was to portray that attention deficit/forgetfulness, by forcing a timer on the players. When too much time passed, one of the activities disappeared, or greyed out, losing their value in the eyes of the game. A representation that the person forgot to do it, lost interest or simply ignored it in favour of another ‘juicier’ activity. It was meant to be both a game of balance, and speed, a dichotomy that is particularly difficult to maintain.
I had discussed with Zhan, one of our tutors, the possibility of using different shapes and sizes for the game itself, and promptly went to draw out various icons to help visualise these various activities, as well as the possibility of different looking levels that would force the player to squeeze objects against one another, such as the jagged walls of a cavern, or thin corridors that forced the player to use specific types of objects/activities. In conclusion, the game itself was simple but portraying the sort of daily distress and extra step was going to be difficult. And then two weeks passed by.
April 2021 - Entry n°2
Development process has been rather quick, forcing myself to a tight schedule in order to meet the deadline. I have begun to work during the days, from 7am to 9pm, and then writing these development diaries during the night. My project will revolve around the schedule stacking day, which I have opted to call “A Day Well Spent.”
After meeting with my tutors (Dr David King) and discussing both the issue and a manner to solve it, we decided to cast away the stacking tower theme from Tricky Towers, and instead go for something far more manageable that can be developed in a few days.
Rough sketch made to illustrate the concept
“A Day Well Spent” s key goal is to meet your player’s daily needs, by slotting ‘activities’ into a cup. The shape and size of these activities makes it difficult to place them without a bit thought or intuition. Each activity fills up the player’s needs by a set amount, which differs from +1 work/sleep/wellbeing to +3 work/sleep/wellbeing. The strength of each activity is dependent on their shape. A simple square is easy to slot, and thus provides little benefits, but a triangle, or a circle, is far more difficult.
Screenshot of the Trello board
I immediately began drawing out a Trello board on which all the things discussed with my tutor were drafted. Needless to say there was a lot to design & develop. My process was mostly iterative. I set myself tasks to carry and took them as they came. When I had sufficiently done so, I built the game and had it play tested whilst I continued working on the immediate troubles and evident bugs present. When new issues arose, I added it to the board, and took care of it whence my current task was complete.
Of my original, stressful intent for “A Day Well Spent”, – trying to balance out needs and time constraints by stacking activities on top of one another – nothing remained. Instead, what came about naturally was a far more wholesome puzzle game, where players could only spawn a maximum of 10 activities. They could select what kinds of activities these were using the mouse wheel, and then drag and drop them into the cup, filling the needs of the player according to what benefits each activity granted. Instead of being a stressful balancing act, it became rather mellow and soothing, something to pass the time rather than engage in actively.
Screenshot of the game without any developed UI.
After the activity slots (those shapes you drag and drop) worked properly, and could be moved around without ejecting themselves off screen, making sure they could only be spawned outside the cup, and not dragged and dropped from inside it became the follow part, alongside getting the needs bars to work, and finally some more feedback for the player to understand which icon he was going to spawn.
Game with polished UI
After some time polishing the UI, the game was rendered clearer. The game gives more feedback such as a clear cap for activities, the name of each activtiy by its side, what activity was being spawned on a right click, and even text that displays depending on how many activities of a same kind you have in the cup.
April 2021 - Entry n°3
DEVEOPMENT UPDATES:
Game slots (activities) no longer spin infinitely after rotating them on a collider, this caused the game to crash in browser.
Added a ‘typewriter’ effect, courtesy of “CodeMonkey”, on the central text, giving more dynamism and movement to the text. This displays each character progressively, which is more pleasing to the eye. (Link to his tutorial: https://youtu.be/ZVh4nH8Mayg).
Added flavour text for every time the player drops an activity into the cup, increasing per amount of activity. For instance, when the player drops 10 ‘wellbeing’ activities, the text displays: “Achievement Unlocked: Do Nothing.”
Added flavour text for every time the play restarts a day, changing depending on a random index. These lines display both basic dialogue, but also game tips. (Always useful if the player cannot see the controls prompt at a first glance).
Refurbished the colour palette, choosing something more muted. The reason why is because it brings out the activities to the player’s eye, and gives a calmer sensation, in my opinion, than harsher reds and bright blues. Teal and brick red also give a crayon looking aspect.
Opted for minimalism when it came to the UI, and text display, rather than something flashy or wild; both because of time constraints and because of the overall feel of the game.
Other than that, I mostly followed and addressed the troubles that my play testers had with the game. These included:
Download version did not work for some, had to upload to browser instead.
Text glitched out whenever typing out one flavour text line and being told to type another.
More thematic mechanics, rather than have a bar that filled up behind the central text, the cup filled itself with each activity slotted, forcing the player to think about which activity used without overflowing the cup. If 10 activities were placed, but the player had not met their needs, then they lost the game and could try another day.
The game over screen was far too intrusive, and so I set the central display text to nothing whilst the game is over.
Replay Button and Quit Application button.
April 2021 - Entry n°4
Case Study: Using Iterative Design
I spoke previously of following an iterative design pattern in Development Blog n°2, but never truly delved deeply into it. For this log, I will be looking deeper into this process, looking at two sources:
“Making Games Better Through Iteration”, by Will Luton.
“How I Teach Games Design, Lesson 1: The Game Design Process”, by Eric Zimmerman.
In layman’s terms, iterative process is trial and error. The designer has an idea in their head, tries to build it, makes it go through stress testing, playtesting and observation through an ‘uncorrupted’ (or open-minded) individual, who then gives feedback on the product’s features, design and enjoyability. The designer then goes to fix and improve their product according to this feedback, sorting the viable from the impossible, applying and presenting the product again. Rinse and repeat until completion.
Eric Zimmerman describes the iterative process as: “[…] a process focused on playtesting. You produce a playable prototype of a game as quickly as possible, then playtest the prototype, and you decide how to evolve the game based on the experience of the playtest.” (2013)
According to Will Luton, iterative design is best applied on small games as it allows to design fast, and fail faster, knocking impossible concepts out of the park and patching the project as it goes. The iterative process allows for a quick and reactive approach to design. (2021) Consequently, this was exactly what I needed.
Whilst Zimmerman explains the process of iteration as a 4-step plan (step 1: design a prototype -> step 2: playtest your prototype -> step 3: analyse what happened -> step 4: back to step 1), Luton presents a whole diagram which itself is just as comprehensive.
The speed at which this helps develop and hone the rough edges of the game was staggering. My first playable was well within a day, from which I had a stream of feedback that could be used to reiterate the features and gameplay.
I also noticed this applies to the feel and intention behind a product. For instance, I had planned on something more stressful and turbulent to reflect the turmoil that is planning, scheduling and time management for people diagnosed with ADD. Dragging and dropping objects, as I had both experienced and was shown, is not as nervous or quick as I had intended. One can only go as quick as one’s mouse, and without a time constraint the mechanic is closer to soothing. A “game feel” I adopted instead, as explained in my Development Blog n°1.
There are pitfalls to this design process of course, it is important to ensure your original vision does not become diluted in the flow of feedback given. Play testers may give their own vision, or propose solutions that can detract from the game, or offer additional features that cannot be achieved within the time constraints.
“It’s important to be critical of playtesting, and of the reactions your play testers might have to your game. Like any design concept or methodological tool, playtesting is not universally valid or true, and there are many ways to playtest well or poorly.” E. Zimmerman (2013)
Similarly, Luton agrees with his, claiming it must be done with thought and concern for the type of team and desired outcome. (2021).
A Day Well Spent‘s development progress
Whilst I do not feel as if my project itself has been diluted, this process has helped me determine what was possible, and what would have to be left for further improvement/resubmission. There has also been a net evolution in how the project came out. From a basic game of stacking blocks into a bizarre twist in Tetris, A Day Well Spent has become an enjoyable experience that conveys the importance of a well-balanced schedule.
Additional features would focus more on the experimental aspect, and add longer term goals, such as ongoing projects or getting through the week without overworking oneself.
Using PlayerPrefs (a function I had not heard of until now), I could keep track of the number of days gone past, as well as the metrics for each need, before amount the whole.
April 2021 - Entry n°5
Case Study: Tricky Towers & Papers Please
Tricky Towers (Weird Beard, 2016)
Papers, Please (L. Pope, 2013)
You may be asking yourself, “what do these two games have anything to do with one another?” So would I, had I no context, and yet Tricky Towers (Weird Beard, 2016) and Papers, Please (L. Pope, 2013) have both been crucial in my Critical Play project (A Day Well Spent), in an attempt to mix and mash them together.
A Day Well Spent was based around the colourful, joyful stacking of tetris blocks that is crucial to the gameplay of Tricky Towers, stuffed with the slow narrative message and goal completion of Papers, Please. A Day Well Spent’s original intended mechanics were to marry the two seemingly contradictory experiences into one, or more so experiment with doing so. Had I taken more time, and put more thought into it, the union of both would likely have taken place.
Whilst I do not believe to have adequately succeeded, we can still observe and analyse in what manner these two games have inspired and influenced the project.
Tricky Towers:
Two players begin a game of Tricky Towers
What is Tricky Towers?:
Tricky Towers is a competitive puzzle-racing game, where players race to the top by stacking tetrominoes into tall, ill-balanced, colourful towers. The goal is simple: reach the bright line. Complications arise when wind starts blowing, and towers begin to tilt left and right; or when the other player suddenly freezes a portion of your tower, forcing them to become slippery and the careful stacks of L blocks and squares slides away, giving your opponent the advantage.
A player uses a spell to remove a shape from the other player’s tower.
Players can acquire different amounts of abilities (called spells as your character is a wizard) to thwart their opponent, or improve their own stack and reach the top. The physics of the game make it so that aligning shapes close to one another becomes a difficult task, and you often end up with messy stacks for towers that are particularly unstable. If a shape is not properly aligned, it has a likelihood of dislodging itself from its fellow shapes when a new one is placed, or simply drop off into the water. There are ways to prevent this, with spells that lock shapes in place, or bind them together, yet there is always the chance of everything tumbling down.
How does it relate to the project?
The first answer is obviously the stacking (I feel like this has been said too many times), Tricky Towers takes the Tetris formula and gives it a few twists. Aside from the competitive, it asks “what if your carefully laid plans could all fall and tumble down?” Taking advantage of the odd shapes of Tetris, Tricky Towers thrives on the player doing their best to balance what they’ve been given whilst racing against the clock, or against another player. Sometimes this means stacking impossible shapes on top of one another, or balancing them on the side of the tower you’re building, then rapidly going to even out your construction before it falls to its doom.
It was this balancing act that caught my eye and implanted the idea for A Day Well Spent. I needed a soothing wholesome experience that could still prove challenging to the player, the atmosphere of which could be found in Tricky Towers. There’s a sort of jubilation when a perfectly mounted pile of blocks stands in shaky stability, similarly to a house of cards. A Day Well Spent went on to ditch the idea of stacking games on top of one another, due to time constraints I had to opt for a slightly different game plan, closer to the original Tetris concept.
"Not Tetris" is uh... messy.
A game that may be closer to the current final rendition is Not Tetris, a physics based Tetris game that has all the benefits of original Tetris, with all the inconvenience of physics based collision, materials and bounciness.
I planned to create a game that imitated Tricky Towers’ tentative balance, adding a message about the troubles of time management, schedule planning, procrastination and organising daily activites. The game is great on its own, but lacks in its narrative aspect. I doubt one can find much substance or critical thinking throughout a session of gameplay. The stories emerge out of the rivalry between players as they shove obstacles and mess with each other’s towers.
What I took from Tricky Towers was its jolly flavour and the key mechanical gameplay of balancing objects on top of one another, and making them fit to reach a goal. Each shape has a purpose in A Day Well Spent and this form of gameplay adds the interactivity I was looking for the project.
Papers, Please:
Terrorist Attack at the Grestin border checkpoint
What is Papers, Please?:
Papers, Please is a narrative document-puzzle game by Lucas Pope. In comparison to the previous game mentionned in this blog, it is a bleak, grim bureaucratic game taking place in the East-bloc dystopian country of Arstotzka. A facsimile of East Germany before the fall of the Berlin wall, Arstotzka’s borders are closely guarded and managed by a line of guards and checkpoints that require ever increasing documentation to step through. The player manages one of these checkpoints (the Greston border checkpoint), and has to deal with the various troubles and ‘isolated incidents’ (terrorist attacks, reluctant immigrants, non-Native speakers, persistant old men, smugglers and entrants with forged or stolen documents, etc) whilst trying their best to make ends meet and care for their impoverished family.
Jorji Costava tries to pass the border without proper documentation.
Papers, Please presents multiple sub storylines to your own, as the game itself is set on the tail end of an in-game war with the neighbouring country of Kolechia. War refuges and immigrants try to slip through the checkpoint with forged documents, in hopes to find work or a better life; Kolechian terrorists will try to smuggle bombs, drugs and weapons to insurrectionists within Arstotzka; a secretive rebellious organisation called EZIC will try to contact you multiple times through its agents to overthrow the Arstotzkan government; impoverished citizens fleeing disease will ask you to let their daughters/wives/sons through despite not possessing appropriate documentation.
Papers, Please thrives on its substories that sprinkles glimpses of a greater world into the checkpoint’s confined space. The characters you face are like your own: tragic, desperately in need of income, and very much flawed. The only thing that seperates you from them is a ballistic glass window, and a sensation of control and responsability towards your fellow man, but also towards your family.
End of Day Screen, where all your savings, money and family members are displayed
By the end of the day, the game summarises how well you’ve performed, and adds up what you’ve earned, what you’ve taken as bribes, and what you’ve saved before comparing it to the costs of your family. The goal of the game is to survive 31 days without falling into bankruptcy, or your entire family dying, but there are also different actions that can influence how the game ends. For example: do not shoot anybody without good reason, or you’ll be arrested for murder (or murder of an official if you kill a fellow guard). This will lead to a game over and you’ll be presented with one of 20 endings.
How does it relate to the project? Papers, Please is the perfect example of the needs and struggles of daily life, to 200%. You’re presented with a daily need to make ends meet, and to organise each interaction with your applications properly, and quickly, in order to get through the day. It marries a basic gameplay loop with critical narrative that discusses the bleak reality of totalitarian regimes. It is, in effect, everything I was going for, but in reverse.
Didn’t meet you needs? Try again.
Rather than being a grim, dystopian story, A Day Well Spent was meant to marry its gameplay loop and the necessities of daily life with a more colourful, soothing atmosphere and message. It may be difficult to organise oneself on a daily basis, let alone across the week, or to get everything done, but there will always be a tomorrow to try again and do better. Whilst I did want to create a more detailed story, the introspective message is one that everybody can relate to. Sometimes, you cannot do everything in one day.
Looking into Papers, Please has helped me understand how to merge gameplay elements into the narrative, increasing requirements and showing the player’s success at the end of the session. It also inspired me to go for this ‘daily necessities‘ aspect, and to add more of a thematic instrospection to the project.
CONCLUSION:
Marrying two diametrically opposed experiences proved harder than originally intended, but from either two much was learned, though never successfully implemented. Had I been able to manage my time better, a more flourishing narrative would have emerged from the game itself.
Tricky Towers & Tetris proved the bulk of the inspiration with regards to gameplay, going for a funny, clunky and messy , however Papers, Please helped me understand how to implement a game that is essentially about dragging and dropping into a larger narrative scale. The methods of which I could have used storytelling tools such as Twine, or Ink.
In conclusion, I’m somewhat disappointed to not have met up to my own expectations, the idea was originally uninspired, and as I come to compile clearly with the deadline coming closer, I find myself thinking of other, better projects that could have been achieved and met the unit requirements had I managed my time better.