Bwazanga's interactive media blog: unit 68

unit 68

Task 1 - Write a blog post showing comparisons between retro and recent game titles

Some people argue that older games are far inferior in every way to present day games, however considering these are the same games the broke open the doors for the gaming industry, They obviously got many aspects right and as many people argue, in some ways, the older games are better. This is because they dont full into the trap of over crowding the game with arguably unnecessary features.

Taking the older Doom series and the newer call of duty franchise for an example, where as call of duty tries to pact their games full as much story, multiplayer, perks, vehicles characters, mini games (e.g zombies) and all sorts of content, Doom was a lot more simple. In call of duty you are given oh so many objectives, "shoot this guy, Blow up this, Run round here, Steal this importent data, Rescue hostage, zip line out of a helicopter etc. rinse and repeat. In Doom its a lot more simple, You, Gun, Shoot, Survive. It's that simplicity that makes (to some) Doom the more appealing game as its not so overwhelming and in someways confusing, also dooms unforgiving no checkpoint feature and limited ammo also made it more challenging and appealing to the "just one more round" feeling. this dose also apply to call of duty but not as much so as ammo is plentiful and if its not you can just pick a another generic rifle from your enemy and checkpoints came after every objective complete if not every other.

However the simplicity and more gritty/realistic nature of call of duty is a lot more realistic and and the actual detail in the games graphics are superb, from water droplets across the screen to the dust, fire and explosions that happen all around you, as well as, interesting vehicles and weapons the player can use from helicopters, to reaper drones, to heavy battle armour and full aerial bombardments. This gritty action appeals to a newer younger generation as the simple gameplay combined with immersive upgrades, weapons and special features (like the ones listed above) to flesh out the players character. The later call of duty games also provide cliche yet inspiring/immersive story of a loan russian madman bent on world domination controls a percentage of the army and invades america and how its the mission of a hero like task force hunt him down as he taunts them all the way by killing them off one by one and it becomes a lot more personal story of revenge.

Weapons in the Doom games are considered much more important. This is because of how scarse and how much more powerful a weapon feels. Your shotgun is stronger then the pistol, your grenade launcher is stronger then your shotgun and so on, however in call of duty the modern generic videos just feel all to similar and more powerful weapons are to few and far between and when you do obtain one, it feels more like a chore then a weapon, only being used to destroy a tank, or a helicopter or to destroy a barricade blocking your way and lacks the impact of one of the powerful weapons from Doom as they are so much more useful and and can save a players lie in a pinch.

The following videos showcase my development work on the maps and some in game testing. the videos show how the walls and areas are textured and the map being expanded and a small play test of hunting down the "node". the last video is music i designed for the game but unfortunately wasn't used in the final presentation but is shown here as evidence

The following is concept art I drew out for the game for the game of characters, traps and the nodes which were mind mapped and thought out before design and was referred to. These concepts helped to design some of the pages in the ten page document as they provided a visual to be referred to.

Aliens

Glove

traps

node design

character design

The following are the pages I contributed towards the ten page document (some not used but listed here as evidence for involvement) these include character profile and enemies (traps) which talk about who some of the characters are, their backstory and obstacles that will block your path and try to cause your inevitable demise

Unused/extra pages and documents

This unseen document page shows a charter bio on the mysterious alien race called the 'Unknowns' which were going to play the primary Antagonist in the game as the guide your movements like puppet masters, however were scrapped as we decided that the alien interaction/interference may of been too cliche' and were better left "implied"to add more mystery and the player has to hunt clues for their existence, in a poetical irony this adds to their mysterious nature and name.

This was the original character bio for Quinn (or at the time: "subject 114-c") this was a good bio and something we based the final 'Quinn' on however many of these factors were taken out due to the player having no way to know some of these details and due the fact that in again offers more intrigue and more mystery to find another person in the maze