Matt Forshaw MA Games Blog

Additional Thoughts and Developments Over the last week, I have began to think in depth about the core of my research and the gap I want to fill in this Character Development topic I have chosen. My thinking has come into the area of what mechanics are most effective for creating these synergies between players and characters. And what mechanics are maybe obselete when it comes to nourishing a relationship between a player and their character/s. Before getting into the mechanics I will use, I feel it will be good practise to again outline the intended direction of my title, in order to present a more rounded case for each of these mechanics inclusions. My game will use influences from current popular media, as well as historic cases of  soldier and military development. Drawing influences from the Covert CIA experiments (Codenamed MK Ultra) of the 50s and 60s, as well as the hit Netflix series Stranger Things, and film/book series such as Harry Potter and The Lord of the R...

Character Attachment Methods Research As well as looking for gamers perspectives on character attachment and their experience with it, I have also begun to use these examples for research about the specifics of certain titles ways at creating attachable characters. In this post, I will showcase my learning and understandings of each of these methods, offering a point of view on the parralels I plan on working into my title too. Call of Duty burst back into form late last year, with the release of their latest title Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. The title was a hit with Call of Duty players of the past, marking a return to more effective mechanics seen in previous games, as well as using settings and characters from previous Modern Warfares (some of their most succesful and beloved games) to reboot their franchise. The games campaign gave the player the opportunity to play as several characters throughout the plot, the most interesting and critically accalimed character being F...

Further Thinking about Progress This week, I have spent time gathering more examples of Character Attachment that my friends have experienced and the reasons and effects this had on their memory of that particular title. Some really interesting points can be drawn from these and by listing them here, Ill have a continual reference point moving forward: Dimitri from COD: Black Ops, spent all of World at War playing as him, then he gets gassed by his mates in black ops, f*****g heartbreaking. I always liked the start of Fallout 4 where he’s in the mirror and you get to completely personalise the character. Feel like the simple mirror thing makes it feel more personal and like you’re that character. Also the whole twist where his infant child is the enemy leader is mad too coz all you’re trying to do is find this kid and turns out he’s the institute leader. Mad plot twist. But character personalisation is a big one for me that gets me more attached to character Relating ...

Mechanics Pondering and Character Attachment Examples After speaking to Josh and James on Wednesday, it was decided that I must begin to focus on the reasons for character attachment, in order to begin thinking of ways to implement the theories and ideas into my title and make my game explore existing and new methods of character attachment. I have focused perhaps too much on making a shoot 'em up, without thinking about the character attachment factor. So, these last 2 days I have spoken to friends and family about character attachment they have experienced, as well as explore possible ways of perhaps beginning to implement those ideas and experiences into mechanics for my game. On Wednesday Evening, I spoke to my older brother, the other creative in my family. He got through to me the need for my game to not only explore character attachment, but to do so in a refreshing and almost experimental way. To not focus on the unnecessary and instead make a game that is unique a...

Character Attachment Update 05/02/2020 So recently, I have gone full steam ahead on the development of the new iteration of my title. I am now in a place where I know what must be done in the near future, as well as almost ready to play test this iteration and gather feedback on its progress and potential.  On the 22nd January 2020, I uploaded an update video to my Youtube Channel ( https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn8wdHah-QtRX-O5fQrOy0A?view_as=subscriber )  about my progress on the game so far. In this iteration, I was just beginning to explore the potential of the new 3D system. I had implemented a fairly simple yet largely unimplemented inventory system and had implemented 2 powers, that of teleportation and invisibility. Although functional, they were largely useless in this iteration, but their control and the use of them has largely stayed the same, even though their uses are now becoming clear. I had not yet begun exploring AI in this iteration and so the A...