unit 67 2D and 3D game engines
Kodu game lab
Kodu game lab is a gaming engine/ level editor that can be described as a 3D version of scratch, with a very simplistic interface/ command coding system. It’s really easy to use and any users of the software “Scratch” should easily feel comfortable using this software as well.
The interface system also compares to that of scratch only it minimalized and kept to a very simplistic level, which is split up into three categories, “When” “character” and “Do.” The “When” category covers the “if” section of the coding and is what the other building blocks are built on e.g. When up arrow is pressed, When touching (or bump) character, When see object. These are easily used to give orders to your characters. These can be given as responses in the form of “Do” these are the responses to the “When” commands and have your character interact and do things e.g. move forward, destroy, move toward. These commands can easily be dragged and dropped into a line of code to continue on the command path. Removing or changing the orders of the “Do” command can quickly edit these. The “character” Commands are commands that change a specific character, these can include: health bars, ending the game and they control how the “Do” command is carried out e.g. move quickly/ slowly shoot rocket/bullet. These in a sense give the character personality.
The map editor used for creating worlds/ maps/ levels is vastly similar to the map editor in the game far cry instincts, with raise and lower land tools, a smooth tool for levelling out the terrain, set height tools (for immediately creating set levels of land which can be smoothed and altered to form cliffs and mountains) finally there is the "Environment tool" which in both game engines allows the creator to add scenery like trees, bushes, rocks, towers, bunkers etc. the only real difference is that in Kodu, you can add characters directly and program them with routes or weapons and in the far cry map editor you can upload spawn points and weapon pick ups and vehicles for their multiplayer maps. the time of day can also be altered in both games and these include, night, day, dusk etc.
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The characters in the game are very cartoony and are all essentially different vehicles with eyes, the main Kodu character for example is just a UFO with eyes. This makes it child friendly for students in in the late years of secondary to use and experiment with and although they look goofy, the characters are very enjoyable with each of them being able to do different things although very simple e.g. boats can float, air ships and ufos can fly, simple things like that which actually give importance to individuel characters.
Scratch
Scratch is a 2D game engine with a fairly easy to use command system its fairly simple to use but some users may need practise however its very popular and allows users to make simple 2D games e.g png, pac man e.t.c these sections can be formed together to form full levels and games.
The interface system is fairly simple to use but is advised that new users go over some tutorials on what each of the different colour coded commands do. which involves snapping together a continuous puzzle of commands to program the "sprite" to carry out different instructions. The interface/ command system in scratch is colour coded and labelled so that new and veteran users know roughly what codes are stored in each section e.g Control= yellow Motion=blue Looks=purple etc. In each of these sections there are different types of commands than can be snapped together to form a coded order for the sprite to carry out. most of these codes are very general e.g. Move or play sound, however some of these can add specifics to e.g wait 5 seconds, point towards, switch costume etc. these essentially give a bit of life to the command and gives the character/sprite have more interactivity.
There is no map editor as such, but more of a background/backdrop maker. This allows the creator to create any type of background they please, either by drawing it out on the scratch design section itself or by using separate design e.g Photoshop and importing them into the program. These can then be coded in and stitched together to form levels (you can code it so when your "sprite" reaches the edge of the screen you can have your character teleport to the opposite end of the screen and change the background to make the level and make it progress.) Although linear/ basic it can be effective as long as the designer has an idea they should be able to make it work.
Characters in scratch are fair to say limitless due to the fact that they can be drawn out in the programs character design/creation section and be given re-designs for animations. These are known as costumes and can be used in the coding section (e.g. when "something" change costume) this can be used to create walking animations and others such as attack animations for example, anything your game requires.
Unity
Unity is a cross platform game engine which allows the creation of 2D and 3D games. The game engine takes some time to adjust to but once you learn the basics it is easy to understand and use. It's the more advanced of these selected game engines and allows more complex physics and lighting.
The interface for unity can be variously complicate for new users but overall is laid out as a variety for menus and screens the user can customize, drag and drop to suit the users viewing preferences. The components for the game or "Gizmos" and "Objects" can me found in separate menus along the top of the program,these can be loaded into the game space in "create new" and then "object for example. Also, at the beginning of loading up Unity you are given a selection of all the pre-made objects and gizmos that can be imported into the game engine and then the game world.
The map editor in Unity can also have a various challenge level for different users. However the simplest way to create a map is to enter the "create new" menu and select "Surface" once this is installed the creator and then raise and lower the ground to form hills ad terrain and can then begin importing other objects and add textures to either to give the area more detail. Different lighting settings can be imported to to change the look of the area and give it i realistic brightness to add more realism to the game. you can also create a fixed light source that can hover over the map and act just like a sun. Different camera positions and settings can be put in to change how the game is played e.g you can create a fixed camera on the side of the map to create a 2D game or import a first person mechanic to explore all of the map and create a 3D game.
Characters in Unity can be created in a variety of ways e.g. the creator could make a first person character that cant be seen by the player or create a standard stiff board type character better for 2D games or games with very little motion, as well as that the creator can also build characters with skeletons and moving limbs and body parts who can run, walk, jump e.t.c
Wolf RPG Maker
Wolf RPG is a 2D game engine which is famed for its 8 bit creation software and allows the creation of larger RPG games. These include more popular horror based games such as: Mad Father, Misao, The witches house, IB, The crooked man and \also the very sad and emotional legendary game To The Moon.
The interface for RPG maker is very simplistic and similar to that of unity involving a drag and drop feature from a panel of objects e.g. trees, boxes, rocks etc. The creator can also draw out and design his own objects depending on what he/she wants in their game. All these can then be dragged into the "playing filed" or game scene to be coded, mostly to be static solid objects, but some objects can be programmed to interact with the player e.g doors, items e.t.c.
The map editor works like a canvas and allows the creator to pretty much paint their terrain out and using the same tool change the art of the surface e.g. sand, grass, tile or concrete, of course the creator can also create and import his/her own textures to make the game in some ways just like unity. A skilled user of this system can add lighter tones and shaded tones to the ground to give it the appearance of natural and dynamic lighting.
Characters in Wolf are all down to the creator they can decorate models with pixels and then draw out detailed faces/ figures for dialogue scenes between two characters, all speech is done through text with the acceptation of screams, sighs, gasps e.t.c characters can also communicate using things like exclamation points to portray shock, question marks to show confusion ellipses to show continued speech e.t.c. all this provides different means to how the character communicates with other characters and how the characters communicate with the player.
Pseudo code
The concept of pseudo code is effective, being able to note down everything you want your code to do in simple noted form that still retain mathematical values that can be referred to and edited at a later date while still maintaining information for that lie of code. I like it but find it somewhat confusing and learning another coding language on top of html and css dose take getting used to.
The characters in the game are very cartoony and are all essentially different vehicles with eyes, the main Kodu character for example is just a UFO with eyes. This makes it child friendly for students in in the late years of secondary to use and experiment with and although they look goofy, the characters are very enjoyable with each of them being able to do different things although very simple e.g. boats can float, air ships and ufos can fly, simple things like that which actually give importance to individuel characters.
Scratch
Scratch is a 2D game engine with a fairly easy to use command system its fairly simple to use but some users may need practise however its very popular and allows users to make simple 2D games e.g png, pac man e.t.c these sections can be formed together to form full levels and games.
The interface system is fairly simple to use but is advised that new users go over some tutorials on what each of the different colour coded commands do. which involves snapping together a continuous puzzle of commands to program the "sprite" to carry out different instructions. The interface/ command system in scratch is colour coded and labelled so that new and veteran users know roughly what codes are stored in each section e.g Control= yellow Motion=blue Looks=purple etc. In each of these sections there are different types of commands than can be snapped together to form a coded order for the sprite to carry out. most of these codes are very general e.g. Move or play sound, however some of these can add specifics to e.g wait 5 seconds, point towards, switch costume etc. these essentially give a bit of life to the command and gives the character/sprite have more interactivity.
There is no map editor as such, but more of a background/backdrop maker. This allows the creator to create any type of background they please, either by drawing it out on the scratch design section itself or by using separate design e.g Photoshop and importing them into the program. These can then be coded in and stitched together to form levels (you can code it so when your "sprite" reaches the edge of the screen you can have your character teleport to the opposite end of the screen and change the background to make the level and make it progress.) Although linear/ basic it can be effective as long as the designer has an idea they should be able to make it work.
Characters in scratch are fair to say limitless due to the fact that they can be drawn out in the programs character design/creation section and be given re-designs for animations. These are known as costumes and can be used in the coding section (e.g. when "something" change costume) this can be used to create walking animations and others such as attack animations for example, anything your game requires.
Unity
Unity is a cross platform game engine which allows the creation of 2D and 3D games. The game engine takes some time to adjust to but once you learn the basics it is easy to understand and use. It's the more advanced of these selected game engines and allows more complex physics and lighting.
The interface for unity can be variously complicate for new users but overall is laid out as a variety for menus and screens the user can customize, drag and drop to suit the users viewing preferences. The components for the game or "Gizmos" and "Objects" can me found in separate menus along the top of the program,these can be loaded into the game space in "create new" and then "object for example. Also, at the beginning of loading up Unity you are given a selection of all the pre-made objects and gizmos that can be imported into the game engine and then the game world.
The map editor in Unity can also have a various challenge level for different users. However the simplest way to create a map is to enter the "create new" menu and select "Surface" once this is installed the creator and then raise and lower the ground to form hills ad terrain and can then begin importing other objects and add textures to either to give the area more detail. Different lighting settings can be imported to to change the look of the area and give it i realistic brightness to add more realism to the game. you can also create a fixed light source that can hover over the map and act just like a sun. Different camera positions and settings can be put in to change how the game is played e.g you can create a fixed camera on the side of the map to create a 2D game or import a first person mechanic to explore all of the map and create a 3D game.
Characters in Unity can be created in a variety of ways e.g. the creator could make a first person character that cant be seen by the player or create a standard stiff board type character better for 2D games or games with very little motion, as well as that the creator can also build characters with skeletons and moving limbs and body parts who can run, walk, jump e.t.c
Wolf RPG Maker
Wolf RPG is a 2D game engine which is famed for its 8 bit creation software and allows the creation of larger RPG games. These include more popular horror based games such as: Mad Father, Misao, The witches house, IB, The crooked man and \also the very sad and emotional legendary game To The Moon.
The interface for RPG maker is very simplistic and similar to that of unity involving a drag and drop feature from a panel of objects e.g. trees, boxes, rocks etc. The creator can also draw out and design his own objects depending on what he/she wants in their game. All these can then be dragged into the "playing filed" or game scene to be coded, mostly to be static solid objects, but some objects can be programmed to interact with the player e.g doors, items e.t.c.
The map editor works like a canvas and allows the creator to pretty much paint their terrain out and using the same tool change the art of the surface e.g. sand, grass, tile or concrete, of course the creator can also create and import his/her own textures to make the game in some ways just like unity. A skilled user of this system can add lighter tones and shaded tones to the ground to give it the appearance of natural and dynamic lighting.
Characters in Wolf are all down to the creator they can decorate models with pixels and then draw out detailed faces/ figures for dialogue scenes between two characters, all speech is done through text with the acceptation of screams, sighs, gasps e.t.c characters can also communicate using things like exclamation points to portray shock, question marks to show confusion ellipses to show continued speech e.t.c. all this provides different means to how the character communicates with other characters and how the characters communicate with the player.
2D game development and research
3D Game development
Pseudo code
The concept of pseudo code is effective, being able to note down everything you want your code to do in simple noted form that still retain mathematical values that can be referred to and edited at a later date while still maintaining information for that lie of code. I like it but find it somewhat confusing and learning another coding language on top of html and css dose take getting used to.
posted by Blog @ 14:36
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