Homework 6 :the Tetrad

1.       Four each of the four elements of the Tetrad, explain how it is addressed by your game. If one of the four elements is not used, please state this. 

a.       Aesthetics

1.       Our game is handling aesthetics in an interesting way. We decided that the setting of our game is set an undetermined amount of years in the future. We used this idea to handle the aesthetics of our game. I am trying to create aliens that have tentacles and are mixtures of strange animals. Our game is mostly three dimensional, with the exception of the random encounter fights, which will switch to a two dimensional background.

2.       As the game progresses as more aliens appear to try and destroy the world, the world will have more destroyed things.

b.       Technology

1.       Our game is being created in Blender and is intended to be played on computer.

2.       We use Blender to create objects and scenes, animate them and use the logic editor to move them around.

3.       This is as much as our team has discussed the technology. I am sure we will discuss it more at length once our project is a little further off the ground.

c.       Mechanics

1.       The mechanics of our game are a bit unclear as of right now. We hope to achieve a balance between exploring the 3D world, solving puzzles to get ‘bonuses’ and fighting aliens.

2.       I think it would be good for the puzzles to be alien traps that the president must overcome and in this way the alien battle is more than just hand to hand combat.

3.       Because the fighting will be based on random encounters, there will be no way to avoid them.  

d.      Story

1.       Our game uses story to explain who the player is, what they have to do and why.

2.       Without story the player might not understand that they are the president, that the United States is in danger and that the constitution says it is the duty of the president to deal with it.

3.       I think our game will have scripted dialogue to explain the who what and why of our game. We also discussed the possibility of the player having a mentor in which case there might need to be more interactive dialogue. This is something we will have to work out as we progress.

2.      Do the four (or less) elements work towards a current theme? 

a.       All of the elements in our game work toward a theme. The theme is currently something in the ballpark of “It is the president’s job to defend against aliens.”

3.      In your own words, describe the meaning of a "theme", and how does it differ from an "experience" (see book for examples in Chapters 2 and 5. 

a.       The theme is a thought or phrase that ties everything in the game together. It is something to keep in mind so that you understand why you are putting things in your game and so that your game seems cohesive.

b.      An experience is what you what the player to go through when they play your game. How they should feel and think while they play the game. This differs from theme because theme because the player definitely gets the experience, but the theme can be more subtle. The player does not have to know the theme of a game to enjoy it, but the experience of playing the game is not something the player can skip over.

4.      What is your game's theme? 

a.       As of right now our game’s theme is “It is the president’s job to defend against aliens.”

5.      What are the elements in your game that are meant to reinforce this theme? 

a.       Random encounter fights in which aliens need to be defeated

b.      Puzzles and traps in the over world are the work of aliens

c.       The constitution was at some point rewritten to include something about the president’s duty in case of alien attack

d.      As the game progresses, more things are destroyed and it is the work of aliens

6.      What is it about your game that you feel makes it special and powerful?

a.       Our game is special because it is a combination of an RPG and a fighting game.

b.      It is special because the player does not know when the fights will happen.

c.       Our game is powerful because we are doing everything we can to apply the theme to everything.

d.      It is powerful there are people that are going to make the RPG half amazing and people that are going to make the fighting amazing.