week 2 semester 2

Updating all of the blog from the various notes made over the course of the project so far, making a effort to constantly update this blog for the remainder of the project.

The map is mostly stitched together now. Scripting the level is going to need to be planned quite meticulously, the experiment suceeds or fails based on how consistant we make the NPC.

I think the best way to do it at this stage will be to take the top down maps of the areas and create a path for the characters based on it.

week 8-10

Having terrible trouble getting the textures from Portal to work in the Episode 2 engine. I am sure there is a way to do it without using gcfscape to extract from the GCF files in the source directory, because the textures from portal are available from somewhere within the SDK folders. If the textures just simply aren't compatible with the Episode 2 engine for whatever reason, it wont be too difficult to create some suitable textures in Photoshop later.

Not a terrible problem at this stage though, still in the greyboxing stage. I've decided to rebuild the level in a modular way, by using interconnecting corridors between sections it will be possible to quickly extend the level section if need be later without it looking artificial.

Started researching the Legacy of Kain series for examples of character design done well.

Week 7

Changed the layout map of my section of the level, still trying to find a comfortable balance between the length of the section and amount of information being introduced to the player. too much is going to create more variables, too little and the section wont have any affect.

I am considering keep it short, but having a couple of important events. Considering we have to force an affect on the player in a short amount of time anyway, this seems the most appropriate option.

week 4 research

Examined the book Games Design Complete by Patrick O’Luanaigh. The book covers the importance of a character being believable aswell as making the important distinction between believable and realistic.

It also gave a useful case study of a few characters such as solid snake and sonic the hedgehog, providing extra context.

I think this will be a useful source later on, when considering whether or not our characters actions make sense.