Dissertation: Project Proposal
Deepening Scripting Knowledge Through Unity Game Development.
Brief Outline of Work
In this Dissertation project I hope to deepen my knowledge of scripting; to do this I plan on making a 2D puzzle game using Unity. The game will revolve around a central "connect point a to point b" mechanic, using a variety of connecting functions, obstacles and connection requirements in order to create a puzzle. In doing so I hope to cover the following issues in order to deepen my knowledge in code.
During the duration of this course so far I have learnt many new things; how to write Actionscript, how to model, manage, animate and design. Due to the nature of the course there is usually only time to learn the basics of these areas of the games design pipeline, Until now. By far the most successful, interesting and rewarding area of my studies has been scripting, so it makes sense to carry on with this area of work. My scripting knowledge is not yet that refined, or deep as I would like, or need. I have decided that for my dissertation I shall deepen my knowledge and understanding in scripting by working by developing a game in Unity, which uses new and different scripting languages. The reason for doing this is that coders are often highly desirable in the games design industry, simply for their lack of numbers; knowing more and being able to adapt will help me become more desirable in the industry. The added bonus of creating a game in Unity is that Unity is becoming more and more popular in terms of online gaming, and additionally, using it also opens up many doors between different platforms of gaming; This both helps me become more desirable to potential employers, and enables me to reach a wider market for any games that I make. My proposal is based on a concept which I am new to, and which any games I've seen with similar mechanics haven't pulled off very well (or taken to its full potential); although It is not my primary aim, using knowledge I'm gaining through readings and the course in general should enable me to complete this task to its full potential.
Annotated Bibliography
Goldstone,W., 2009. Unity Game Development Essentials. Packt Publishing.
This book looks very useful as it covers all aspects of Unity in good detail. HUD creation and object collection in chapter 5, particle systems in chapter seven... Actually, Yeah; I am definitely going to read through large parts of this book as I believe it provides a good groundwork of some of the main aspects of unity I may not know so much about.
Additionally, while Googling for the picture on the left, I found an Ebook called "Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials" by the same person. From what I've read, it seems to be an updated and expanded version of the book for the newer versions of unity.
See also: Goldstone,W., 2011. Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials. Packt Publishing.
Mernard, M., 2011. Game Development with Unity. Course Technology PTR.
This book is very good as it covers making games in unity as a whole; this means it goes from concept, to working around unity, scripting, UI, particles, music and more. I may not need some early chapters in the book, but I have a feeling I will need most of the later chapters as it covers more complicated parts of the Unity program.
- Use of Javascript/C#;
- Using Unity as a 2D game engine (for a high percentage of the time);
- How to create/use a base class;
- Loading/cycling levels;
- Creating objects dynamically;
- Adding/ controlling objects inside other objects dynamically;
- Dynamically creating physics based objects;
- Subclasses;
- Object dragging/dropping/snapping(mouse);
- Transferral/removal of information through connected of objects;
- Battle/Removal of infinite loops;
- UI/menus;
- Scrolling;
- Dynamic Control of lighting/objects;
- Pre-loaders/Sub-loaders;
During the duration of this course so far I have learnt many new things; how to write Actionscript, how to model, manage, animate and design. Due to the nature of the course there is usually only time to learn the basics of these areas of the games design pipeline, Until now. By far the most successful, interesting and rewarding area of my studies has been scripting, so it makes sense to carry on with this area of work. My scripting knowledge is not yet that refined, or deep as I would like, or need. I have decided that for my dissertation I shall deepen my knowledge and understanding in scripting by working by developing a game in Unity, which uses new and different scripting languages. The reason for doing this is that coders are often highly desirable in the games design industry, simply for their lack of numbers; knowing more and being able to adapt will help me become more desirable in the industry. The added bonus of creating a game in Unity is that Unity is becoming more and more popular in terms of online gaming, and additionally, using it also opens up many doors between different platforms of gaming; This both helps me become more desirable to potential employers, and enables me to reach a wider market for any games that I make. My proposal is based on a concept which I am new to, and which any games I've seen with similar mechanics haven't pulled off very well (or taken to its full potential); although It is not my primary aim, using knowledge I'm gaining through readings and the course in general should enable me to complete this task to its full potential.
Annotated Bibliography
Goldstone,W., 2009. Unity Game Development Essentials. Packt Publishing.
This book looks very useful as it covers all aspects of Unity in good detail. HUD creation and object collection in chapter 5, particle systems in chapter seven... Actually, Yeah; I am definitely going to read through large parts of this book as I believe it provides a good groundwork of some of the main aspects of unity I may not know so much about.
Additionally, while Googling for the picture on the left, I found an Ebook called "Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials" by the same person. From what I've read, it seems to be an updated and expanded version of the book for the newer versions of unity.
See also: Goldstone,W., 2011. Unity 3.x Game Development Essentials. Packt Publishing.
Mernard, M., 2011. Game Development with Unity. Course Technology PTR.
This book is very good as it covers making games in unity as a whole; this means it goes from concept, to working around unity, scripting, UI, particles, music and more. I may not need some early chapters in the book, but I have a feeling I will need most of the later chapters as it covers more complicated parts of the Unity program.
Gerasimov, V., Kraczla, D, 2012. Unity 3.x Scripting. Packt Publishing.
This book is by the same publisher as the ones by Goldstone, so I'm hoping it's going to be just as good. From what I've read, it seems to require some previous understanding of unity scripting (or at least how to start-up with unity scripting) so it may benefit me to read some of the more basic books I have found before reading this one. Chapter four will prove very helpful as it covers how to code inventories in Unity. Other areas of interest are GUI, and AI. How much I can use may be limited form this book as it seems its tutorials are based around a fps shooter, which is very far from what I'm planning to make.
Brownlow, M., 2004.Game Programming Golden Rules.Charles River Media.
I picked up this book instantly as it seemed just what I needed; a baseline of rules to do/avoid to make neat and functional code. This book is full of tips for coding. Unfortunately most of the book covers languages I am unfamiliar with and/or it seems to be based on far more complex projects such as scripting from scratch (instead of using a front-end such as unity engine or other such programs) I'm almost disappointed but I'm pretty sure I can find something which will benefit me in this book.
Castillo,T., Novak,J., 2008.Game Development Essentials: Game Level Design. Delmar Cengage Learning.
I got this book for my old project idea, but it covers all aspects of level design and the thought and concept progress, so although it may not be as applicable as it used to be, the early chapters (1-3) for creating concepts and designing should be of use. it also covers a lot of 3D aspects of level design, and although only a very small part of my project will be 3D, it should help improve it.
Moore, M., Novak,J., 2008.Game Development Essentials: Game Industry Career Guide. Delmar Cengage Learning.
I got this book because I was having trouble visualising how and where I would be a part of the games design industry when I'd finished University. The good thing is it should be useful for whatever I decide to do for my dissertation - and perhaps improve it in the areas I need to in order to get a job. This book also covers all areas of the games design industry and how to go about getting into certain parts of it; so even if it doesn't help my dissertation, it will help me as a person.
Swink, S.,2008. Game Feel: A Game Designer's Guide to Virtual Sensation. Morgan Kaufmann.
This seems like a fantastic read which would go well, or help vastly with almost any game design project; This book as some great insight into how to make a game fun to play and how to polish a game very well. Chapter 14 may also be very useful for our group project this year. Most of the book interests be including but not limited to inputs, responses, mechanics and polishing. I think it may actually help improve my games, rather than just expand my knowledge; which I think is probably a good thing.
Brownlow, M., 2004.Game Programming Golden Rules.Charles River Media.
I picked up this book instantly as it seemed just what I needed; a baseline of rules to do/avoid to make neat and functional code. This book is full of tips for coding. Unfortunately most of the book covers languages I am unfamiliar with and/or it seems to be based on far more complex projects such as scripting from scratch (instead of using a front-end such as unity engine or other such programs) I'm almost disappointed but I'm pretty sure I can find something which will benefit me in this book.
Castillo,T., Novak,J., 2008.Game Development Essentials: Game Level Design. Delmar Cengage Learning.
I got this book for my old project idea, but it covers all aspects of level design and the thought and concept progress, so although it may not be as applicable as it used to be, the early chapters (1-3) for creating concepts and designing should be of use. it also covers a lot of 3D aspects of level design, and although only a very small part of my project will be 3D, it should help improve it.
Moore, M., Novak,J., 2008.Game Development Essentials: Game Industry Career Guide. Delmar Cengage Learning.
I got this book because I was having trouble visualising how and where I would be a part of the games design industry when I'd finished University. The good thing is it should be useful for whatever I decide to do for my dissertation - and perhaps improve it in the areas I need to in order to get a job. This book also covers all areas of the games design industry and how to go about getting into certain parts of it; so even if it doesn't help my dissertation, it will help me as a person.
Swink, S.,2008. Game Feel: A Game Designer's Guide to Virtual Sensation. Morgan Kaufmann.
This seems like a fantastic read which would go well, or help vastly with almost any game design project; This book as some great insight into how to make a game fun to play and how to polish a game very well. Chapter 14 may also be very useful for our group project this year. Most of the book interests be including but not limited to inputs, responses, mechanics and polishing. I think it may actually help improve my games, rather than just expand my knowledge; which I think is probably a good thing.
Brathwaite, B., Schreiber, I., 2008.Challenges for Games Designers. Delmar Publishing.
This book covers everything to do with creating and designing a game; Because my game will be a puzzle based game I will definitely need chapter 3. Chapter 11 may also be a good use. The chances are I will inadvertently draw or reference this book due to the sheer amount of time we have been studying/using it.
Trefry, G., 2010.Casual Games Design. CRC Press.
This book mainly covers the question "What is fun?" and different mechanics/playful activities which help achieve this. I have a good idea that I will be using matching and construction playful mechanics in my project, so these chapters will be of great use, although it is quite possible I will strafe into other parts of the book.
Adams, E. (2011) Gamasutra,The Designer's Notebook: Eight Ways To Make a Bad Tutorial [Online] Available at: <http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/134774/the_designers_notebook_eight_.php?> [Accessed: 31 October 2012].
I plan to do a game which gently eases players into several retentively new mechanics, progressing in difficulty; people always seem deluded that a good tutorial is an easy thing to do, but it clearly it isn't that easy judging by all of the games I've played in the past. This reading should be a good guide for doing a good tutorial; or at least what not to put in a tutorial; which is a good start.
Filter Forge, 2012. Filter Editor. [online] Available at: <http://www.filterforge.com/features/editor.html > [Accessed 1 November 2012 ].
This may be a strange entry, but it will be of great use to me (well, the program at least) I'm not interested in the function of the program (creating textures and picture effects), but how they have made an easy to use Node editor, and the different functions that are available to add (to modify for the game).
Good. This is looking much more like a proposal. It is focused and rational. You brief outline is absolutely fine. Both chris and george should be able to offer you scripting support for the project.
ReplyDeleterob