Difficulty of a game

Difficulty

Game balance is the different difficulty that a game can be played in in accordance to the ability of the user playing the game. These Difficulties range from game to game. Games such as cubefield have difficulties that increase in speed, the higher your score is the levels change, the higher the speed. There are obstacles within the game and you have to dodge them and get the highest score you can. Everyone starts at the same level, the same speed and there is no differentiating between the better and worse players apart from the score they get at the end. Whereas in games such as Call of Duty you can change the difficulty from the start. There are four different levels of difficulty:
- Recruit, 
- Regular, 
- Hardened  
- Veteran. 

Respectively, they get harder from the amount of people that need to be killed to the specifics that you need to pass the missions. 

Those who play on recruit have most likely never played the game before. They play against soldiers who cannot aim correctly, they barely run, move slowly, do not face the way the enemies that are coming, they stare at you and are ready to die. Whereas when you play on veteran they are the opposite. They shoot through walls, as soon as you pop your head out of the window they will fire, they use their tactical grenades efficiently in order to kill you. You need to complete more tasks and you will find it much harder than the other difficulties.

In Call of Duty the first missions are usually those to allow you to get a feel of the game, they take you through the basics of movement, shooting, aiming down your sights, grenades and so forth. Then you have target practice to put what you have learned to use. In Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 you will have a little time trial where you have to put everything you have learned to practice. Such as throwing a tactical grenade through a room then killing the enemies, stabbing, shooting and avoiding civilians. There is a soldier who you hear speaking, telling you what to do and how to do it throughout the mission. It is better for games to start with this sort of difficulty, something easy as it allows the user to get a feel of the game, they can (if they have played the game before) remember what some buttons do and how to do certain things. 

Moreover there are some things in some Call of Duty games that there aren't in the others that are to do with movement. For example in Modern Warfare 2, you could lay down, crouch or go prone. However in Black Ops you could dolphin dive, then in Advanced Warfare you could double jump and boost with your exo skeleton. Normally as you advance through the game you will have to put abilities/skills/techniques that you learnt to use at the same time. So at the start of Call of Duty you may just be aiming down your sights, then running, then throwing a grenade. However as you advance you may need to run, whilst picking up a bomb, shooting the enemy and double jumping onto a building while using a score streak. Games use difficulty settings in order to challenge the user, to make them feel like the game is worth their time. 

If a game is to easy you may get bored and not really know why you’re playing it, but on the other side of the spectrum if a game is too hard you may not be able to advance and you’ll keep dying and losing. This will, in turn cause you to get frustrated and not want to play. Therefore changing the difficulty will allow you to challenge yourself in accordance to your skill level and you can change it depending on how easy or hard you think the game is getting.  A player may want to increase the difficulty setting in order to further challenge himself and it will happen throughout the game because the will get used to the buttons and how to play the game. Then these abilities will advance and develop which will, in turn, make the game easier because they can complete their goal easier. 

Narrative, FMV, Cut scene

Narrative

A narrative in a computer game is the storyline in which the game is being played in. It is a step by step story that entices the game player to look forward to that which will come next. Video game designers use narratives within their games to make the player think about that which comes next as well as follow the game stages. They can keep up with what is happening with the game and it makes them enjoy playing it as they are playing towards a goal. Once they reach the end, if they have enjoyed playing it they will look forward to the next game that will be released, a sequel to the first game.

An advantage to a game having a narrative is that they give the game a direction and purpose. Without a narrative, the player will not have a true purpose of playing the game apart from the addiction of it. A game such as Mario has a clear narrative which is to save the Princess from Bowser, but a game such as Candy Crush has no narrative. However the reason why people play it is due to the fact that they get addicted to playing it and compete with friends to achieve higher scores.

A disadvantage of narratives of games is that over time people spend a lot of their life behind a screen playing a game year after year, sequel after sequel due to the fact that they’re enticed in the game. This leads to addiction which could be detrimental for their health.

FMV

FMV stands for full motion video which is a scene that lasts quite some time (five minutes or so). It usually happens at the end of a mission, start or end of the game. It skips between scenes and you cannot control what occurs, these scenes are pre made. Their graphics are quite high as they are supposed to catch the eye of the gamer to be amazed by what is happening. Games such as Super Mario Bros start with a full motion video with lightning attacking the castle of the princess. Mario then goes to check out the trouble as the attacks were not normal and the player spots Bowser Junior sneak up at Princess. Mario turns around and sees Bowser Junior take princess and run off with her, Mario then follows. This full motion video makes it evident that the goal is to retrieve princess from the enemy within the game.

The advantage of the full motion video is that it helps the narrative become evident with the use of high quality motion videos.

However a disadvantage is that it stops the game to load (for the full motion videos mid-way through the game). The gamer sometimes would not like to watch it but they are forced to because there is no available skip button. This could frustrate the player as they would think they purchased the game to play, not to watch.

Cut Scene

Cut scenes are smaller scale full motion videos that occur randomly within the game at will of the video game designers. They are scenes that occur within the scene that the gamer is playing in whereas the full motion videos skip from scene to scene. Cut scenes give information about the next task you have to do, small hints in order for you to complete the next mission successfully. They are usually 30 seconds long, possibly with enhanced graphics and there is the ability to skip these cut scenes if the gamer would like to. Games such Final Fantasy 10 have cut scenes when summoning beasts. They show the beast coming into the fight and if you have the bar filled up next to its name, you can use its special move, its overdrive. These cut scenes are informative of how the beast comes into the fight and what their impact is once summoned.

An advantage of cut scenes is that, the majority of the time they allow the user to skip them if them. This eliminates the boredom some players get from full motion videos, that they may feel like it is hindering them from playing the video game as it is forcing them to watch a video.

A disadvantage of cut scenes is that if you miss something, a piece of information within the cut scene such as talking to someone who walks by and once the cut scene is over they walk off, you may not have the opportunity to speak to them again. Therefore in order to advance through the game, you have to rely less on the information the game has given you and more on ‘trial and error’ in order to proceed.  

Game World

Game World

A game world is a virtually stimulated environment made up of a terrain, buildings upon that landscape, people and objects depending on what the game is. It is the area that the game takes place is in and things in accordance to the game can be achieved. This artificial universe in the game in which the game is played in on can be of many different types. Such as the game One Piece would be played in a fictional world where there is magic and so forth but games such FIFA would not be played on that sort of game world due to the fact that the game world of FIFA would be set in a football stadium, not on an island with one hundred metre long turtles and giants. The game world of Grant Theft Auto would be set in a city wherein there are buildings, houses and beaches. For example Grand Theft Auto San Andreas would be set in San Andreas (the city) where the terrain is vast and contains many people, cars and so forth. But a game such as NHL where there game world would be in an ice rink would not be played in that game world due to the fact that the game world does not suit its conditions. Therefore different game worlds are set for that sort of game due to the fact that the conditions for the game to be played in are not met. This is because games have different aims. Games such as Saints Row and Call of Duty could be played in the same game world; or Pro Evolution Soccer and FIFA; or Call of Duty and Battlefield. This is because they have the same aims are can be played in the same game world.  The game designer would want to get the game world exactly correct due to the face that if they don’t then the game cannot be played because it would be illogical. Such as playing a game like Super Mario in a game world like FIFA, the goal and aim of the game cannot be achieved and there is not point of playing it. Moreover you would have to have the game world set in the correct time, so you would not put technology and so forth in a game which is based in medieval times due to the face that it would be illogical as it did not exist. Moreover you wouldn't put a game world from God of War in a game like Topspin, a tennis game because the atmosphere would be incorrect and the game environment would not like to the game’s aim. Game worlds change over time in graphics because the world around us also changes. Such as cars, they become slicker, more aesthetically pleasing; buildings become larger and technology advances to allow better graphics.

Terrain

The terrain is the ground in which the game takes place. These change from game to game. FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer have a terrain of Grass, Topspin has a game terrain of red sand (depending on the stadium), FIFA Street has a terrain of concrete and Call Of Duty (Depending on the map) could have a terrain of grass, sand, concrete, gravel, water, marble and other types of terrain. Some video games have many different terrains such Grant Theft Auto will have terrains like beach, sea, gravel, sand, hills, mountains, wood and concrete. This gives the game a different atmosphere, a realistic one. It allows the user to see a game world which seems non fictional. This lets you be immersed in the game. However some games have only one terrain which makes sense such as football games such as FIFA only have grass. It wouldn't make sense for the terrain in the football stadium to have grass, hills concrete and ice. That would be illogical and unrealistic.

Architecture

The architecture in the game would consist of buildings, structures, statues and landmarks within the game world which would have been built above ground. For example in Final Fantasy there are many statues and temples/houses/cabins that have been erected above ground. This gives the game world a hint of realism and makes it less plain. Video games use architecture to make the game world more adventurous so that the user could play the game for longer. This is because they can explore the game world more and enjoy the game. It’s important to have architecture which is high quality which is linked to the time in which the game is set. This is because the high quality architecture with intricate detail makes the game more realistic and intriguing.

Objects

Objects within the video game are things such as sofas, a football, lights, and other smaller scale objects (in comparison to architecture). In games such as Grant Theft Auto there are many objects within architecture (houses). The objects consist of furniture and increases the realism within the game due to the fact that without these objects then the houses would look extremely odd because they would have been completely empty. It is important to have high quality objects with good graphics and intricate details due to the fact that, without it, the game would be too plain and less enjoyable. The objects need to be relevant to the area that it’s in. for example you wouldn't have a multitude of lamps and Christmas trees in the middle of a football match in FIFA due to the face that it wouldn't make sense and would be out of place. 

Characters

Character Report

Characters within a computer game refers to a person, controllable or uncontrollable within the game. Characters can either help you achieve your goal such as team mates in Call Of Duty, those who attempt to stop you from achieving your goal such as the police if GTA or are neutral and don’t effect the game such as civilians in Assassin’s Creed. 

These characters are there to give the game a certain realistic atmosphere. Player characters are those characters that can be controlled by the player of the game such as Tidus in Final Fantasy X. in some games the main character either does not exist as you can control many of them or they keep changing. Such as in GTA there are 3 different main characters which you could use, Franklin, Trevor or Michael. 

People prefer one to another due to the different abilities they have, Michael can enter bullet time in combat and can shoot in slow motion. This allows you to be more accurate in your shooting and kill enemies easier. Franklin can drive at a slower speed which allows you to drive more accurately, reducing the risk of crashing. Trevor, once the special meter is activated, can enter a special mode wherein he can perform unique melee attacks that the other characters cannot do. Another game such as in FIFA shows that there isn’t a main character, but there are players within the team that you can control if they are passed to or by pressing a button. You cannot control all players at once and some players are better than others. Such as the centre back Alex who currently plays for A.C. Milan is slow compared to Thiago Silva (Centre back for PSG) who is relatively fast but Alex is stronger and has an extremely powerful shot. Both of these players are Brazilian so if you had to choose between these two characters, you would measure the positives and negatives of the players weighed up against each other, then the preference of the user. It is important in games for them to have strong main characters as they will entice the user to want to play, giving them a sense of authority and power within the game. Some games have more than one main character due to the fact that there could evolve from it, more missions especially suited for that character. This allows the player to play the game for longer and once it is completed, want to play the next one if it will be created.

Non playable characters are those such as the enemies within the game or those not assigned to the user to control. These could include bosses in games such as Bowser in Mario or the opposition in FIFA that, depending on the level of difficulty of the game, would determine how hard these characters are. They cannot be controlled and are there as obstacles within the game. It is important to have strong non playable characters within the game as they make the user play the game for longer which is the aim of the developers of the game. 

Perspectives P1, M1, D1

Introduction

Perspective in terms of video games is the view in which the player is able to see the environment within the game. This is mainly known by the camera angle in which they view their surroundings. Perspectives are one of 4, they are either first person, third person, aerial view or a two dimensional scrolling side view.

First Person Perspective

First person perspective refers to viewing the surroundings and the environment being viewed from the main person’s perspective (i.e.. their eyes). First Person Shooters (FPS) is the preferred perspective when it comes to shooting games for various reasons. First person shooters date back to a game by the name of Maze War in the 1970s. As gaming has advanced, this perspective has become preferred due to the fact that it entices the player behind the screen as if they were the player who was playing. First person shooting games have many advantages such as:

·         It immerses the player into the virtual world as you cannot see the protagonist who you control. So the mind comprehends that it is them who is the one fully controlling the player. It provides a bigger connection between the player and the virtual player as if the player gets hit from behind it could make the player change emotions due to the nerve racking settings created.

·         The first person shooters allow you to be more accurate do to the fact that you are able to look down your sights and get a clear view of who you are shooting and you do not need to hip fire which sprays bullets in a specific area but the bullets are not concentrated and accurate as they would be if you had aimed down the sights. Moreover you can clearly view where your player is facing which makes you likely to react quicker to possible enemies.

·         It improves reaction time as you will have to keep reacting quicker to possible threats in order to not be a liability to your team. You will need to view the whole setting/environment and this is not possible in third person as you focus more on movement of the player than you do in first person shooters. This allows you to focus more on spotting things in matches.

However, despite the advantages of first person shooters, there are some disadvantages such as:

·         The player is not able to completely view as much of the screen as those playing is third person. This is due to the fact that only an acute angle of vision is accessible (30/40 degrees) Therefore you will not be able to see player who may come from behind you because you can only see a limited part of what is in front of you.

·         If you are playing a game such as Call of Duty (shooting game) in a game mode such as Search and Destroy. This game mode does not allow you to re-spawn until the next round therefore lives are extremely important. The more player you have alive the more likely you are to win the round. Therefore you have to be extremely careful. If you are playing in first person, someone could creep up behind you and knife you. Whereas if you were playing in third person you would be able to view that area behind you which eliminates the possibility of a cheap death like that. It then comes down to reactions. Therefore you have less cover in third person.

·   Moreover one could be overcome by illnesses such as nausea or dizziness due to the fact that you are expected to turn a lot as you do not have access to an obtuse angle of vision. 

Second Person Perspective 

Second person perspective for games is very rare due to the face that it is less common within the community. This is because people prefer games such as Call of Duty which are first person or FIFA which is third person, however second person games still exist. These games consist of not seeing your actual character through their eyes but seeing them from another character's view

Some games such as Siren or Manhunt are second person. They view the main characters either from the eyes of another character or a tangible device in the game.

Third Person Perspective

Third person perspective refers to the environment and the virtual world being viewed from behind the main character or from an angle where you can see the character that you control as you control them. Third person shooter games are second preferred perspective when playing shooting games. Games such as Super Mario are third person as you view Mario from a side/scrolling view or Duke Nukem/ Call of Duty (Third person game mode) where you are behind the main character you control and you have a wider view of the environment.

With third person shooters you cannot actually aim down your sights which makes you less accurate when shooting.

Video Game Genres

In this blog will elaborate on different video game genres such as sports, adventure, action etc.

Sports

Fifa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbhmEuCztks < Fifa match

Adventure Game

Uncharted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-9EWbpFXv8

Action

Call of duty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOZ6w0hV7fU

Simulation game

Burnout

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cog3UokhmI

Strategy

Final Fantasy X

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2HtHQc2NPg

Puzzle

2048

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMOjvnVdsZY

Role Playing Game

Assassin's Creed 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ0nryaO8Ds

Management
Football Manager
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEIESIFfT8c

Educational
Exam Solutions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emRMM5-szLo

Viral Marketing
Clash of Clans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHeH6MMjTM