Week 9 Reading And Writing

Image from growth mindset reading

For this weeks task I had to go back over everything I have been doing this semester for this module and write about it. I was asked to go back over the readings, the tutorials and project work. Throughout this semester we learned about game design as well as game theory. One of the earliest readings we did was called "What Is A Game?". Obviously before doing this reading when asked that question I would've just said a video game but after doing this reading I learned the literal definition of a game isn't necessarily a video game. It is literally any form of playing so when asked "what is a game" you can say Grand Theft Auto or you can say Tic-Tac-Toe and they're both correct answers. If it is something you can play it is a game. As well as learning about games we also learned about time management which is an issue many students face myself included and the readings offered very helpful tips. One specific reading that caught my eye was a reading on the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is the mindset that you can do something if you just keep trying no matter how hard it is because obviously you'll never be good at something on the first go whereas a fixed mindset is when you just accept that you naturally just aren't good at something which unfortunately is a trait many people have. People with a growth mindset will work hard enough to get an A even if it's hard and they believe that it's unlikely that they'll get one however people with a fixed mindset will just have a defeatist attitude and accept that they can't get an A. The reading taught us how to crush self doubt which is something I have experienced a lot throughout college however with a growth mindset I just did my work and didn't fall behind and I believe I have done well so far. The image I used above is. from one of my growth mindset blogs from earlier in the semester with a quote that says "There are no failures just discoveries". I chose this image because I believe it to be a very good motivational quote. We also learned about games MDA (Mechanics, Dynamics, Aesthetic). The mechanics are how the game works so how the character moves etc. The dynamics are the runtime behaviour of the mechanics and the aesthetics are the overall feel of the game. That same week as well as last week we learned the key elements of game fun which are sensation, fantasy, narrative, challenge, fellowship, discovery, expression and submission. Throughout the semester each week we went through the process of designing our final game project which is still being worked on. We had to brainstorm our idea and expand on it each week. We read about game design documents which is a simple short and sweet document talking about what will be featured in your game such as characters, your gameplay, your music, sound effects, controls etc. We then had to design our own for the project we are creating. Two weeks ago we started making the prototype for what we want our game to look like. I was very nervous about starting with the actual game design at first because I thought it would be extremely difficult and to an extent I was right however by going back over the Unity tutorials I have been doing throughout the semester it's slowly gotten easier however I still have a bit to go before my game is completed. I am looking forward to seeing the end result of my game and my overall result for this module at the end of the semester. Although I feel as if this module should focus more on actually designing the game rather than all the blog posts that come with it. I think Unity tutorials are more helpful when it comes to designing our final game and we should maybe just do blogs about those rather then all the other theory involved as it takes up too much time.