Feedback Strategies

 "Feedback Strategies"

I like writing about feedback because it falls under the umbrella of mindsets and motivation, both two topics I'm heavily interested in. The two articles I ended up reading were the "Be a Mirror" and the "How To Give Feedback Without Sounding Like A Jerk" article, both I found very informative and I agree with all the methods that they say are good for developing growth mindsets, and in a nutshell not sugarcoating things that may be hurtful which I do a lot and the person on the other side isn't normally happy because they just want to be praised.

I found the " Be a Mirror" article very informative, the writer listed very easy things you can do that can have both extremely positive and negative effects of kids mindsets and self esteem. Simple things such as saying" You looked at the cover and title", instead of just saying "You Predicted", these small things can be  deciding factor to whether or not these kids develop a growth or fixed mindset.

I related a lot to the second article I read because situations described in the article happen in my daily life. I'm very open to criticism, mostly if it's delivered in a beneficial way, just as explained in the article, the delivery plays a big part on how the recipient will move forward with the feedback. Some people I know get offended when they are told they do have the time to get that done or "go to the gym" but they are just procrastinating with themselves and they know it, that's when people get offended, when they know their in the wrong, but they don't want someone else reminding them.

In the article he describes delivering feedback like a sandwich, bread on the top and bottom, that being the sugarcoating positives and the filling, the lettuce, tomatoes and meat being the nitty gritty, not negative, or positive but realistic necessary truth, that will benefit that person in the long-term.

I think feedback is necessary, if you aren't told the truth about what you need to fix to make the product or yourself a better version than it was before. Another reason honest feedback is important, especially from a young age is if a kid hasn't been told they need to work harder or try again, when their older and there told "that's not right", or "work harder", they'll take that as an insult and get mad or worse give up.

Image Source: Flickr

Game Idea Research

 "Game Idea Research"

The game idea I have chosen to focus on for the next couple of weeks is "game idea 3", my third game idea is based on sports, I have decided to focus on specifically running. In my previous blog post I gave examples of three games that have inspired to make running the theme of my game, those games are Temple Run 1 & 2, and Subway Surfer, both these games are "running" games, and they both have similar game goals and objectives depending on your level in the game.

For this weeks task we were told to examine three different game mechanics that we could use in our game, before this week I had no idea how game mechanics effecting a game, I had no idea until about an hour ago!!!, but I do now. Both games have similar game mechanics, this makes sense as both games follow a certain theme and objective. One game mechanic they both have is the mobile mechanics of both games, the fact they are both mobile games means they would work differently to tabletop and video games. The mobile mechanics are what make both the games very interactive. When playing you can tilt you phone from side to side to avoid obstacles and gain points in the form of coins or spray paint cans.

From what I've read online, the interaction ability of the game mechanics, is what determines the level of player interaction. A gaming mechanic that appears in both games is "game performance", meaning your character has the ability to power up, and change the player ability.

I found it hard to really get three types of game mechanics, mainly specifics of each and what they are, I found a website, which has made it more clear as to what kind of interaction I have will influence how the game works, it split it into four, Socializers, interacting with players, Explorers, interacting with the game world, Achievers, Acting on the games world and Killers, acting on other players. This made it more clear as to what will influence my game mechanics. 

Image Source: Flickr

The links to where I found helpful information are going to be listed down below, thanks for reading.

Link 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_mechanics#:~:text=Game%20mechanics%20are%20%22systems%20of,player%20and%20the%20game...&text=In%20other%20words%3A%20what%20happens,the%20player's%20moves%20or%20actions%22.

Link 2: https://uxdesign.cc/designing-your-game-mechanics-based-on-player-types-b16a95fb7f60

Link 3: https://trianglejump.wordpress.com/2016/10/07/game-mechanics-of-temple-run/

 

Learning About Game Elements

 "Game Elements"

Prior to this weeks reading, after completing last weeks research on gaming I knew how complex and time consuming building a game was, however after reading this weeks reading it broke down all the elements of designing and developing game into even more sub-sections, that makes you aware of the time that is to be dedicated for the early stages of game development. The first section of the allocated reading broke down the sections very well to understand what each stage in the process of developing a game is.

From the reading I've learned that the qualities of the game are what make the game what is is. I learned that creating the players isn't as simple as just coming up with names, then straight to design, no, it's choosing is it a multi player game, single player, multiple players against the system or free-for-all, which send the developers down multiple avenues to decide how the game will be played which can be extremely, which can make or break a game, being if it's best suited for single player ore multi-player mode. Then things such as the games goals have to be decided, which can change depending on the player scheme. Then you have to discuss the games theme, the state of the game, being all the data recorded during certain game play, sequencing, player interaction, and resource management.

Image Source: Flickr

After going through some of the reading, I came to a section on "critical analysis", before reading this section when I heard critical and analysis I shied away from them because, commonly that means paying attention to the faults or mistakes made in an almost finished or finished projects or task. From this reading in the world of game design and development I learned that's not all it seems to be. It's not looking at the game and saying that's all wrong, it's an unbiased over look at the product, in this context, that being the game.

I've learned before I start trying to jump in and design some basic game layouts and elements is to take my ideas and thoughts for my game to paper prior to my laptop, which before I would have laughed at.

In a provided video two game developer said that bringing the idea to paper is just one of many steps, they then start to use real life objects and activities to gain inspiration for how they want there game to be played and how the layout can be interchangeable. All these task surprised me and took away a fear of the beginning steps of the game development process. 

Below I'm providing some helpful and informative links that relate to the processes that I've written about in the above blog post, which I hope you viewers fins somewhat helpful.

1. "The Game Development Process" 

 https://www.cgspectrum.com/blog/game-development-process

2. "Essential Stages of Mobile Game Development"

  https://medium.com/@vivekshah.P/8-essential-stages-of-mobile-game-development-9c0d3399357f

3. "Pre-Production" By Juego Studies pre-production process:

  https://www.juegostudio.com/pre-production