“The best way to learn games is to play games. The best way to make games is to work.” – Alan Emrich
Game Maker Tutorials:
When we left class today, Game Maker Tutorial #10 (Four 3D Techniques) was nearly (if not) complete. Your homework this week begins by finishing this tutorial lesson if we didn’t in class (and that last lesson with the isometric maze is an important one, so don’t rush through it). Make sure you grasp all of the techniques and the processes used in creating these 3D techniques before tackling your homework assignment this week.
You’re homework (worth up to 15 points) is to create a real, complete game using any of one of these different pseudo-3D techniques that the instructor will evaluate (so don’t make it too hard!). Your game should include:
Some original game art that you’ve created (hey, you’re supposed to be a game artist – so show me)
A splash screen introducing the game
A cheese screen upon its completion (and probably a nice looking High Score Table too, if appropriate)
Instructions, the victory conditions, and game credits on the help screen when I press the F1 key
At least 3 minutes of great gameplay
I expect to see some thought an effort on your part when I evaluate this assignment.
There is no marketing restriction on your homework game this week. You can make a nice, easy game for the mass-market or something better suited to a niche market (like yourselves).
Your .gm6 save game file is due at the beginning of class next week, either on disk or via email to the instructor (any homework time-stamped more than 30 minutes after the end of class will be marked late – you can always send it in early if you want).
The Game Development Essentials Textbook:
Chapter 8, Interface: Read the pages on creating the connection. The material in this chapter directly presages next week’s lecture, so you will want to have digested it before class next week. There is a great deal to consider in a game’s interface, where the game designer must become something of an engineer to get the player and the machine connected together properly.
