BLC Blogging

Criticism I personally found this particular topic extremely interesting to read about as criticism is a huge part of college and project work. We are constantly getting constructively criticized by each other and lecturers to get an external input and perspective on our work. We are also constantly giving constructive criticism (especially in this module with our weekly project feedback comments) so reading about it and learning to use it in the most useful way possible is extremely helpful. Most People Aren't Good At Criticism We usually find it hard to find a good way to comment on somebody's work. Some people are either too timid ("I like it!") and some are too outspoken (can lead to an argumentative result) Constructive Criticism offers valid feedback both positive and negative. Giving constructive criticism can lend much-needed assistance to an individual by giving them feedback on things that can be improved or issues that can be avoided. VALID...

This week's readings are introduced with a little bit of an introductory mentioning that up until this point, we have discussed games as systems with sets of rules. From now on, we will be looking at an emotional, story side to games. This was really exciting to read as understanding why something like a game can be so memorable, is extremely interesting. Unfortunately, the first two provided links didn't go to the related readings, so I had a look at the additional ones instead; "Stories and Games". The author states three reasons as to why "Can games be art?" discussion as part of their specific syllabus: 1. The author wants to make it clear that fun is not the only purpose of game design, and some might think this. They state that some games have received good critiques even though they are not necessarily 'fun'. 2. 'Can games be art?' is a huge debate that has been circulating throughout game design for a long time, so they want...

Hello! Today is a little look back on all the readings that I've completed this semester and discussing a few points in relation to them. Looking Back: Overall, I find some of the readings very interesting to read. They can offer a lot of insight into the amount of thought and work behind game development. This was also a small downside, as some of the terminologies, for example, was extremely complex and sometimes confusing. It took a lot to understand them fully. My favorite part so far has been 'Game Fun'. Getting to see the psychology behind different players and how they experience fun in different ways was so interesting to me. You never really think about these things even though they're right in front of your face, so getting to learn about this was exciting. Personally I, unfortunately, haven't made a lot of connections between the readings and my game. I've made some, but not a lot. Especially the likes of reading about MMO's. I did still e...

Today I read some of "Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades: Players who suit MUD's" The first thing that I learned is 'MUD' is an outdated term and is a precursor to today's 'MMO' Multiplayer Game Meme https://gaming.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/funny-gaming-memes-for-the-gamers-amongst-us/86042157/ Reading this article is quite confusing. It uses language that is difficult to decipher immediately while reading, it takes some time to understand what it's actually saying. I definitely believe they could have used simpler English as all of this is just unnecessary. I browsed through the article and found one part particularly interesting is the Player's Interactions section (noted that these types are stereotypical and it is normal for a player to fit into traits of two or more types): (I have decided to only cover the traits against each other as there are too many variations, this way I can still cover all traits)  Achievers vs Achi...

An MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) Game is known to be difficult to build due to many technical issues and also  server scaling, as well as design issues involving scaling economics, politics, level design, pacing, persistence, and progression. A  common assumption about MMO's is that bigger player numbers are better and worth pursuing. This may not be the case as costs rise along with the number of players. Human-scale game design is about creating strong relationship bonds between individuals. (Friendships) Creating these bonds is a recipe of four ingredients. These are Proximity, Similarity, Reciprocity, and Disclosure. Proximity In order to create a friendship, players need to have close proximity. This allows interactions. Similarity It is more likely for players to become friends if they are similar. Their perceptions of one another need to be similar to their perceptions of themselves. Reciprocity Players must engage in escalating back-and-forth in...

This week's reading consisted of learning the qualities of games, to help with our terminology and language when discussing game design, and also to help our understanding of the never-ending definitions of a game. The elements of 'games' are as follows: ● Players  ● Objectives (goals)  ● Rules  ● Resources and Resource Management  ● Game State  ● Information  ● Sequencing  ● Player Interaction  ● Theme (Narrative, Backstory, Setting)  ● Games as Systems We also learned about a critical analysis of a game, and how it's done. The biggest thing this section focuses on is not giving a grade or a score, but analyzing things that work, figuring out why and developing on that, then the same for things that don't work. Being able to give an actual analysis rather than a statement is extremely important. Analytic Chart "Technical analysis"   by  hardeep.singh  is licensed under  CC BY 2.0  BL...

What is a game?; a question that is surprisingly difficult to answer. It seems like such a simple question to be asked at first, but the more you think, the more complex it gets. What I've noticed from the readings is that the game industry is very subjective. There isn't one single set of terminology to be used by everybody as the industry is far too complex for everybody to settle on a single set of terms. The reason for this is that it is highly unlikely that different areas of the gaming industry will be using the same terms, they are all so different that it is probably impossible to settle on a single set. Like I said, it is very difficult to define a game, and when taking into account my previous point, if the industry can't settle on a single set of terms to be used, how can they settle on a single definition if they're all so different? There are probably hundreds, if not, thousands, of definitions out there for a game. Here are a couple of examples: ...