Deconstructing A Print and Play Game: Rock, Paper, Scissors

The game of choice for the next step in developing a Print and Play game was to deconstruct a current one, that of which can be learned and played in thirty minutes. The game of choice was one called Rock, Paper, Scissors, a 2D, discrete game, but don't let the name fool you!

Players play the game in which up to 3 can plarticipate, where each player has 15 hexagon tiles that are double-sided, in which each face will say if it's rock, paper, or scissors. The goal of this game is to attain victory by capturing an opponent's pieces - 3 of 2 kinds more specifically - by outplaying the opponent in strategic measures. To capture an opponent's piece, the player has to surround an opponent's piece with 6 of the opposing type (for instance: one scissors surrounded by 6 rocks). The interesting part is that the player can put him/herself in a bad situation, because their own tiles count as ticks towards capturing the piece, and to add to it, opponent pieces count as two ticks instead of one on the piece they're attacking.

Here, the blue paper can be taken due to it being affected by 2 blue scissors, which is 2 ticks combined, and 2 red scissors, which is 4 ticks combined, amounting to 6 ticks, and the capture of the paper piece for the red player. Even with this example, the player on each turn is given one option out of three: to flip an existing piece they own, to put a new piece on the board, or to shift one of the existing pieces on the board to a new nearby location one space over. The space the game takes place in is infinite. The pieces can extend as far as they want, and are always available to go in any direction the players want to build in.

More specifically, each hexagon piece can be classified as an object, in which case they can be flipped, moved one pace over, or taken off the board. The pieces come in red, blue, and green to show differences in teams, and on each piece is a sign. Rock beats scissors, paper beats rock, and scissors beat paper. Flipping the piece changes its sign, moving the piece over requires it to transform to a different location exactly one space over with a requirement of two adjacent openings on it, and being taken off the board is the piece being captured by the opponent. Since the player is going for capturing opponent pieces in the long run, the player must decide if moving, flipping, or adding new pieces to the board is necessary to play safely while attacking his/her opponents.

Players learn as they play to strategize their plays, considering options of losing or gaining pieces, changing moves and motives, and the manipulation of the environment to fit their needs, contrary to the opponents'. The player is always given the option to add, flip, or move a piece, and by carefully thinking and moving the pieces, they can achieve a goal against their opponents by outwitting them or playing while thinking in advance.

Interestingly enough, the game has a small play of chance involved. When you start the game, your pieces are in a stack, shuffled. As your turn comes around, you play the top hexagon piece in your stack, with the side that was given to you from the start. This really makes you consider your placement, and makes you strategize for plays in the future, as well as can give or take away power from you and your opponent by putting certain pieces on the field to block them, sneak in a card with a good flip option, or bait your opponent into taking for a better outcome.

Overall, the game was surprisingly more in-depth despite the name of it, and it was far more complex than what was anticipated. It kept a good level of fun, speed, and wasn't a rough learning curve at all to overcome. Definitely noteworthy points to keep in mind for this project.

Print'N'Play - Play Testing!

       This year, the class is taking a turn where we're building up to make a print and play game. First off however, is to play test existing games to get a better idea of how to develop a game that is simple to learn, put together, and has a skill cap to learn. One of our main choices to try out was one called Space Junkyard, a game built on the use of proper planning of resources, strategic placement of pieces, and a small bit of luck based on the fact you don't know what pieces are where.

      The game lasted roughly 30 minutes to an hour tops with four players, including the time it took to learn the rules of the game and apply them. The game was interesting enough to keep all of us in it, have a margin of fun and competition, as well as kept a fun compelling look in its art.

    Others games we've tried were games like Micropul, a game built solely on strategic methods of moving things and work around each player to accomplish personal goals, as well as using the others to make moves. Most games either had qualities of either Micropul or Space Junkyard, mainly having a simple learning curve, a skill ceiling to achieve, and a sense of a fun atmosphere to keep players interested. I feel like I have a few ideas in mind for my print and play thanks to this time of play testing.

Freshman Year Retrospect (Some NFSW)

For those uninformed, this year (2013-2014) is my sophomore year. Much has happened in the last year, in which I've taken the initiative to create and save most of my work. Things such as drawing, sculpting, and animations have been developed last year, and I'm hoping to share them on this blog for the time being as a reflective analysis on what I covered last year.


Traditional Animation

TA was a class where we were able to develop multiple frames to make short motion pictures such as walk cycles, bouncing balls, and flour sack movements. This project was a simple characterized walk cycle for a creature or person we had to come up with our selves in a short time, followed by the practice of movement of the arms, legs, and body to display the character's personality and frame.

3D For Game Art

This class was based around our use of concept design and our ability to make those ideas into actual sculptures and be able to create backstories, detail textures, and show material use to develop the characters and landscapes we were assigned. This project is the Grunt Project, to which we were tasked with coming up with a background story, why the grunt is attacking, and what sort of landscape it would be found in. We were also given the work of creating an environment using real-life resources and sculpting/building a diorama.

Figure Drawing

Figure was a class revolving around the study of the human body in an effort to replicate it in terms of form and value. The weight shift, lightness to darkness, and overall sense of balance and action was a key feature in this class, consisting of the use of gesture drawings, renders, and the like. Here's a few examples.

This all is what I've accomplished in my Freshman year. I feel like much has been accomplished within the time I've had last year, and I hope to continue onward with future improvements.

Trailer of Choice

Castlevania has been an ongoing series for more than 25 years now by Konami, and with each game they've developed, they push the envelope just a tad further each time. Whether it's newer gameplay elements, environment expansions, character and animation depth, or even their music and voice acting. The spinoff series, Lords of Shadow, has been a more recent subject in the Castlevania series, and the new upcoming game, Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2, has definitely lived up to the ongoing expectations of Castlevania constantly going on with each game.

The trailer I present is most likely one of my favorite all-time trailers, mainly because of multiple reasons. The trailer shows the scopes of areas, the gigantic landscapes, details in the environments, the animations and effects, as well as the newer difference in sound quality in voice acting as well as ingame music and sound effects as well. I'm also quite interested in how they threw in narrative points without breaking the display of action, footage of gameplay, and the overall expansive and portrayed variety of environments. I must say, I'm overall very interested in this trailer, because it also sells the game itself, displaying the extent of what all the game is capable of in terms of visuals, gameplay, and story.