Blog 2 - Game Assets

6) "Game assets are the "things" that go into a game. Some examples of assets are artwork (including textures and 3D models), sound effects and music, text, dialogue and anything else that is presented to the user. Sometimes the terms content or objects are used interchangeably with the term assets." from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_development

"Describes game assets, which are the collection of data files used to support gameplay such as bitmaps, models, textures, or sounds. Game assets are governed by the XNA Framework Content Pipeline."

"This section discusses how you can manage the game assets held by a game project.

Game Content Project
Describes a project type (nested within a standard XNA Game Studio 3.0 project) designed to store all content for a game application.

Adding Game Content Projects
Describes how XNA Game Studio supports the use of multiple content project folders within a game project.

Adding Game Assets to Your Game
Demonstrates how to add a texture asset to your game. The same procedure can also be applied to model and sound assets.

Game Asset Properties
Describes property settings indicating which actions the project system should perform on a game asset file of a supported type." from:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd282477.aspx"

Game assets can also be the currency in a MMO game that the players use to buy and sell items and earn real money in their real life bank account. For example World Of Warcraft Gold or Anarchy Online Credits. Examples:
http://www.playerauctions.com/ and http://www.guy4game.com/

Some Independent Game Developers create things and make them available to other users in the community for use in their games. This is mostly royalty free but the creators still want acknowledgment and credit if their content is being used by someone else.

http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Game_assets

http://www.syntaxbomb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1657

http://learning-activities.org/widged/wiki/doku.php?id=en:assets:assets

7)Assets are the things used in games that make up the game, such as Graphics, Sound, Dialogue, Code etc. It can also mean people's assets within a game, such as game money that can be exchanged for real money. This isn't a game asset in the eyes of the developer, but of the player. People working on their own will count their own work as assets, for example Uni Students or Mod Makers. This might help them gain a job in the games industry by including it in their portfolio.

I think assets have different meanings depending on what role you have in game development. For example if you are working for a games development company and assets are readily available to you then you might not need to create your own and worry about copyright issues. If you are creating a small game by yourself then you will need to make your own assets such as 3D models, music, dialogue and make sure you put copyright on them if you wish to. Assets can also be used to make a living and to make some money in games. For example selling things for game money with other users in exchange for real life money is probably a more important asset than graphics or sound.

Blog 1 - AGS Games Crit

4)

Game Title -

Game Concept -

Key: Scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is poor, 5 is average and 10 is outstanding. (Please circle the number you choose for each question and place any additional thoughts/information below)


What is your initial thoughts of the concept? Does it make you excited to play the game? Is it informative? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



Are the controls simple enough to understand? Does it use keyboard and mouse, or some other device? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



Is the story and introduction of the game easy to follow? Does this follow on from the games concept? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



Are the player interactions simple enough to understand? Are they new and challenging? Too easy? Have you done things like this in other games you have played? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



Are the visuals of good quality? Do they fit in with the games concept? Do they make good use of the AGS games engine? 2D? 3D-ish? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



How long did this game capture your attention for before you began to get bored? Do the different levels of the game make it interesting and make you want to play to the end? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



Is the gameplay smooth-flowing? Is there any lag within the game? Does it feel like it has been properly made? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10



Are the user interfaces easy to understand and use? Do they fit in with the design and the point of the game? 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10


Now check your scores and see which number you have circled the most to see how the game has done...

5)

1 Game Title: Trilby's Notes

2 Description of the games concept (1oo words max): My name is Trilby. Four years ago I was involved in the DeFoe Manor Incident. I and four other individuals were trapped inside a manor house by some kind of supernatural intelligence; a dark wraith with murder on its mind, the ghost of the original owner's youngest son.

I was trapped inside DeFoe Manor for five days. I was forced to do something I can never forgive myself for. Possessed I may have been, but I was still watching through my eyes a man dying at my hands...

After escaping from the Manor, Trilby must search for a number of clues and solving some mysterious goings on, trying to repair his past.

This game is entirely keyboard based. You type the commands in that you want the character to execute. For example "walk to door" or pick up weapon" makes the character execute this command.

3 How clear is the game concept – i.e., how far could you quickly understand what this game is about and what you are supposed to do? 0 - If you skip the cutscenes you wont understand the instructions of the game

4 What about player interactions with the game? How easy/difficult were these? -

1 - Some commands are not understood by the player and you need to be clear on the instructions given.

5 Visual quality of the game – how good was the art? 1 - The art was pretty good considering its an AGS game.

6 ‘Playability’ i.e. how compelling was this game? How far were the players into it? Was there anything they said/did that indicated what they thought? 2 - When playing this I was quite into the game because I like mystery/detective games. Maybe other people will give lower scores depending on their gaming tastes.

7 Implementation – how slick and smooth did the game feel? Was it elegantly and professionally implemented (given the constraints), or did it feel clunky? 2 - The game runs fine with no lag or slowdowns. It's very nice to play.

8 Contextual gameplay - how did you find the interfaces for interaction e.g., load, quit etc.; were these easy and clear, allowing control of the game? -1 There is no interface during gameplay, everything is keyboard based so it was pretty unclear.

Final Score - +4 (Take it or leave it)

Screenshots:

1 Game Title: Apprentice 1 Deluxe

2 Description of the games concept (100 words max): A simple point and click game where you control a boy wizard called Pib who is set quests and challenges by his master to become a real, fully qualified wizard.

3 How clear is the game concept – i.e., how far could you quickly understand what this game is about and what you are supposed to do? 2

4 What about player interactions with the game? How easy/difficult were these? 2

5 Visual quality of the game – how good was the art? 1 - The art of the game is pretty good considering its an AGS game. The graphics have a cartoony feel to them.

6 ‘Playability’ i.e. how compelling was this game? How far were the players into it? Was there anything they said/did that indicated what they thought? -1 - The game concept is pretty basic and its something that has been done before so the game isnt that compelling

7 Implementation – how slick and smooth did the game feel? Was it elegantly and professionally implemented (given the constraints), or did it feel clunky? 1

8 Contextual gameplay - how did you find

the interfaces for interaction e.g., load, quit etc.; were these easy and clear, allowing control of the game? -1 Playing this game on a laptop, controls took longer to use than in other similar games, because Im not using a mouse or scroll wheel. Also, you have to be precise in where you click in the menus, otherwise the choice you made doesn't activate.

Final Score: +5 (Pretty good and enjoyable)

Screenshots:

6) I downloaded the games, played through them for a while to get the general feel of the game, and then answered the crit sheet questions. To make my own crit sheet I used the other one and went into more detail in my questions based on the other questions. I also used a scale of 1-10 to rate the game's final score.