Rust is an Early Access massive multiplayer survival game created by Facepunch Studios. Rust was inspired by games like DayZ, Minecraft and Stalker. In Rust, players can determine how they would like to play using the game’s building tools to attempt surviving through harsh open world environment conditions, such as attacks from wildlife, radiation, starvation, temperatures as well as other players.

Website: https://playrust.com/

Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spGt2Mhzy8

Elemental Tetrad

Technology:

• Rust uses procedural map generation to create a unique map for each server.
• It was developed using Unity 5 game engine.

Mechanics:

Some of the mechanics present in Rust include:

• Ballistic trajectory for its projectiles (arrows and bullets) to simulate a more realistic game physics
• Hit tracking mechanism which means shots to different parts of the body deal different damages
• An extensive crafting system
• In-game voice chat for useful/critical in-game communication

The game mechanics in Rust are not uncommon in any Open World survival games, seeing how it had been compared to as a mix between Arma 2’s Day-Z mod and Minecraft. However, the way Facepunch Studios incorporated them – features that are missing in either Day-Z or Minecraft – made it a game with immense potential.

Story:

There is no story to this game. The developers created the game on the idea that the player shall decide how he or she wants survive the harsh elements within the game as well as how they would like to play the game, be it fighting against others or making allies and helping each other survive. Like what the developers said: “We provide the tools. How players survive is up to them.”

Aesthetics:

Rust’s graphics have significantly improve over recent years since it was first released as an early access game. This was partly due to the development team porting over to the Unity 5 game engine. Structures, foliage and the environment are nicely modelled and built, while wildlife like bears and wolves are nicely implemented. Audio is also properly developed for example, a user can accurately identify the direction an attack helicopter is coming from, as well as footsteps and movement nearby. However, bugs are still present within the game thus negatively affecting players’ game experience at times.

Lens of Time:

Rust uses a Day and night cycle – roughly 50 minutes of daylight and 10 minutes of night – to bring about a sense of time for players in-game. During daylight, visibility is not impaired allowing players to view their surroundings clearly. Hence, it is the best time for players roam about freely and explore. However, when night arrives, visibility is almost zero. It turns pitch black very quickly, even the moonlight is insufficient for illuminating the terrain. The player’s only option will be to use a torch or other craft-able light source, which could potentially be more harmful as he or she becomes an obvious target for other players and/or attack helicopter. The use of time cycle adds an element of strategic play to the game as players would have to plan for each activity, keep in check the time spent as well as considering their ability to respond to danger.

Lens of Expected Value:

Clockwise From Top-Left : Destructible Barrels, Airdrop, Weapon and Medic Crates, Attack Helicopter

Rust does incorporate the element of chance within their game. Some more notable events are:

• Airdrops, an important element in Rust which happens randomly at random locations around the map, that may contain valuable supplies. Airdrops are delivered via a propeller plane, and can be seen coming in from extremely long distances, this results in players sometimes running towards the airdrop and competing for it.
• Interactive objects such as destructible barrels, medical supply crate and weapons crate are scattered across maps usually at fixed locations near landmark sites, and each of these objects provides players with the chance of obtaining certain resources or items ranging from either common to rare.
• Attack helicopters, another important element to Rust, they are randomly spawned between a certain time interval (24-48 of in-game hours), are NPC-controlled and are rather hard to defeat. The attack helicopters will patrol iconic landmarks in the map called monuments and will fire at players if they are spotted (only on certain conditions). Defeating a helicopter will cause it to drop extremely rare loots but there is a cooldown before players can access the crash sites. This invites challenges from other players who are keen to attempt stealing the loot.

Lens of Competition vs Cooperation:

The most important goal in Rust is to survive, not only from the environment but more importantly other players. As mentioned above, players ultimately have to compete for resources and items. However, the open and free playing concept of Rust also enables cooperation between players. One good example is the option for players to form “clans” in the game. Clans creates an in-game faction where players belonging to the same faction help each other with housing, provision of items and supplies, partaking in organized raiding of other players and looting. The feature of clans creates a balance for competition and cooperation, as it helps to make the game more enjoyable by giving new players a lifeline to work with others, rather than always getting killed by more established and advanced players a few moments into the game.

Lens of Imagination:

Building is an essential tool for survival in games, and this is also likewise a prevalent concept in Rust. Like Minecraft, albeit with a more extensive building system, players can use their imagination and build homes or structures in the game for different purposes. This freedom allows players to be creative and tactical with building a base for survival, which is evident from the numerous video tutorials and guides to building different structures increasingly found on sites like YouTube and Rust’s community pages.

Description:

Age of Wonders is a turn-based strategy game with some RPG elements, co-developed by Triumph Studios and Epic Games. It was released in October 31, 1999 and the first game in the Age of Wonders series.

Website Link: http://triumph.net/ageofwonders

Trailer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P–zaTS2iuA

Gameplay Video: https://youtu.be/JlG5xEvo-_4?t=24m41s

Elemental Tetrad

Mechanics

• Controls are simple and straightforward as only the use of mouse is required.
• Despite having simple controls, the game itself is quite complex.
• Gameplay revolves around turn-based strategy with an isometric view of the map over hexagonal tiles.
• Strategy Element
  • Fog of war, which is pretty common in strategy games, prompts the user to venture out into the unknown to explore.
  • Tactical combat challenges players to outwit other players in command of units.
• RPG Element
  • In-depth hero customization wide variety of special abilities to choose from, multitude of spells to research and arsenal of equipment to find.

 Story

• Setting: Medieval fantasy world with magic and a diversity of races
• Conflict: Humans killed the Elven King Inioch and conquer the Elven Court, claiming The Valley of Wonders. The remaining elves split into 2 factions: The Keeper, led by Elven Princess Julia and The Cult of Storms led by Elven Prince Meandor.
• Campaign: Join and aid one of these 2 factions in reclaiming The Valley of Wonders.
• Branching story based on different paths taken throughout the campaign. Final stage of the campaign is the same map for all paths, however objectives and alliance are different based on path taken.

Aesthetics

• Graphic
  • Detailed environmental tiles depicting different terrains such as snow, forest, desert, cave and etc.
  • Hero portraits consists of multiple version for each races.
  • Beautiful sprites depicting elemental attributes.
• Audio
  • Compelling and engaging soundtracks.
  • Different sound effects for spells to indicate its elemental attribute. (i.e. lightning)

Technology

• Game is built to run on Windows platform.
• Not much is known about the game engine as they used an in-house game engine.
• Has a map editor available for developing custom level. This is a great feature as it encourages player made custom levels.
• Multiplayer supports through LAN, over internet or by Email.

Lenses

Lens #27: The Lens of Skill

• Requires players to take advantage of their terrain, racial bonuses, alignments and etc.
• Balance between economy, expanding troops and exploration of map.
• Tactical combat has a high demand of skill. Even in a disadvantageous battle against larger amount of higher tier troops, with tactful play, a player maybe able to turn the tides.

Lens #29: The Lens of Chance

• Chance is an important aspect in this game as it makes the outcome of battles unpredictable.
• A prime example how chance plays a big role in this game is stats.
  • Attack determines chance of landing a hit.
  • Defence determines chance of dodging an attack.
• A hero with max stats losing a melee fight against another hero with lower stats based on chance. (Hero with max attack stats misses all his hit, and failed to dodge any attack despite having max defence stats as well)

Lens #38: The Lens of Competition vs. Cooperation

• This is very applicable in multiplayer game, especially in non-allied victory. (Only 1 winner)
• Players have to compete for resources, cities and artifacts. (equipment)
• Despite being a game of competitive nature, it also prompts player cooperation with diplomatic feature in place.
• Weaker players can form temporary alliance to join forces in attacking stronger players.

Lens #46: The Lens of Economy

• There are 2 main resources in this game, gold and mana.
• Gold is mainly used for upgrading cities and maintaining upkeep of troops.
• Mana is used for spell research and spell casting.
• Choices of spending resources wisely is important.

Lens #75: The Lens of the Avatar

• Player’s main hero is his/her avatar in this game and they are given free rein in customizing their hero.
• Max level of hero is 20, therefore there is a limited amount of abilities and stats the hero can have.
• Examples:
  • Combat oriented hero with max stats and multiple melee elemental strikes.
  • Magic oriented hero with more spell casting points.

Assignment 1: Game Analysis for Mappy

Description:

The game I am discussing is Mappy. It is action game distributed twenty years ago first as arcade game. Player controls the character Mappy, a mouse to collect items while avoid being caught by cats within a mansion. Mappy and the cats move between floors with the trampoline. The trampoline will break if Mappy stays on it for more than 4 rounds. Mappy can open the nearest door it faces to obstruct cats or passes through. There are 2 types of door, 1 blinking and the other not blinking. Opening the blinking door will release a wave and catch the cats along with it.

Try the game: http://www.retrogames.cz/play_008-NES.php?language=EN

Lens of Elemental Tetrad

Aesthetic

Considering the game is created 20 years ago, the images drawn were quite ok.

Mechanics

Mainly running left and right, jumping onto trampoline and move to the other level. Other than that is to open or close a door in the direction of the player

Technology

The game is available on arcade, Nintendo and now on PC. Controls are straightforward and easy

Story

There is no Storyline in Mappy, as it is just the player collecting items while running from the enemies.

Lens of Fun

The game is fun as structure of each levels are different, thus creating a different strategy to obstruct and avoid the enemies while collecting items. Included in the game is hidden bonus, where the player collect items in pair give bonus points. Other than the normal stages, there is also some bonus stage where you can collect numbers of balloon within a time limit.

Lens of Problem Solving

The player needs to find a way to delay approaching enemies while preventing sandwich by enemies.

Lens of Emergence /Time

There is a time limit within each level of the game. When time exceeds limit, it shows “Hurry” word in the game, the background music will be faster and the enemies will increase and become faster, giving the player a sense of urge to complete the level.

Lens of Simplicity/ Complexity

The rules of Mappy is very simple and straightforward: collect the items before getting caught and move to the next level or get caught and lose the game.

There are only 3 control buttons: Left, Right and A/B for moving left or right and open or close the door.

The player can understand the game within minutes.

Lens of Visible Progress

Other than the first 5-10 stages that are quite easy, the progress can be visible through the change of color of mansion and the stage modification.

Gampeplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J64Gn60y1o4&index=1&list=PLebpytFvkBzvMlypgiChn9bUthdFXcQwf&t=473s (Uses the PC port that was released in 2005)

Description

The Halo series is one of the flagship titles of the Xbox and this was its very first game, released in 2001. There have been 5 games in the main series to date, along with several spin-offs and remakes. This is about the original game that was released in 2001 and not the 2011 Anniversary version, which comes with additional features and improved graphics.

The game opens in medias res. You are in the middle of a war between humans of the future and more technologically advanced aliens. From the very beginning, the situation is already bleak. As a super soldier, you are tasked with an important duty of not dying or being captured and explore the strange structure that you have found yourselves stranded on, the titular ring world of Halo.

Elemental Tetrad

Aesthetics

Due to the game being released in 2001, the graphics cannot compare to today’s ones. Even the anniversary version, which had updated graphics, is still very underwhelming compared to the newest game Halo sequel. However, the reason why I chose the older version despite the fact that there was a newer updated rerelease was because for all intents and purposes, the aesthetics served their purpose well. Humans are very identifiably humans and the aliens even more so. There is a very clear distinction between them and throughout the game, it is always evident that humans are on your side and everything else isn’t.

The music, even today, is still top notch. The title screen, the first thing you see when you boot up the game, already sets the mood. You are treated to a spanning view of the titular ring world and given ominous music that hints that the world has many mysteries that are not all good. The title sets the tone that this will be a dark and serious game. Then in the very game itself, the music sets the lows and highs of the game very well. When you are hiding in the shadows, shying away from the overwhelming numbers of the enemy or from the zombies known as the Flood (shown on the right), the music is creepy and scary. I remember as a child that while at first I was afraid of the aliens known as the Covenant, they could not at all compare to the Flood, which are nightmare fuel in their own right that I always attempted to kill as soon as possible. The music was what cemented that experience. Imagine listening to this while being chased by a wave of zombies and desperately shooting everything you have. The only reason why it is not evolve to an outright horror game was because you were still capable of fighting back, which the music also enforces.

Technology

As this game was originally released on the Xbox, it used the capabilities of the Xbox as much as it could. Most buttons were mapped in as intuitive a manner as possible, such as the right trigger being used to fire your weapon. The Xbox controller’s ability to vibrate was used to emphasise a lot of the things happening on screen. The Xbox was also one of the stronger consoles of its time, contesting with the Playstation 1. This was made use of by pushing that to its limit, creating a large and beautiful world that one could explore and discover using 3D graphics.

Mechanics

Halo is a first person shooter game, and thus that makes it straightforward. Find a weapon. Point and shoot. I felt that all of its weapons had their own unique characteristics that none of the other weapons shared. For example, the weapon that the Master Chief, the main character, uses in the cover is called the Assault Rifle, which is very simply a machine gun that one just holds down the button to continually spray bullets until one has to reload. The pistol, on the other hand, serves a very different purpose, capable of zooming in and serving as a good long range weapon as well because of its ability to down most unshielded targets in a single headshot. The alien weapons that use plasma serve well to take down shielded enemies, on the other hand. The plasma pistol in particular is capable of taking down a single target’s shields with a charged shot, something which was taken advantage of as the difficulty increased.

Story

The story is also one of the hooks of Halo. While at first, the player is thrown into a world without any prior information, a lot of the game goes into revealing more about the world, as well as the titular Halo. The all important war between the humans and the aliens known as the Covenant is a mere backdrop to the horrifying Halo and its secrets. The Halo was built by an even more advanced race than the Covenant known as the Forerunners, who had one day suddenly disappeared from the universe. All that was left was their technology and their AI, of which most notable in this game was 343 Guilty Spark, otherwise known as the Monitor of Halo.

The Lens of the Character Web

The main character in this game is the Master Chief, the armoured superhuman who we are never able to see the face of in-game. He is stronger than all the other humans and essentially the most important human in the series. The player gets to play as him, living a legend as he single-handedly brings victory to the human race.

However, this game does not focus on just this. The characters around the Master Chief never outright tell the Master Chief that ‘You are the most important person here’. Actually, the Captain of the ship is the most important in story. But the player gets the feeling because every time the Master Chief appears on scene, the characters react immediately to him. The humans thank him profusely for appearing and helping them out of a pinch, rallying behind him without hesitation. The Covenant fear him and the smaller mooks cry out in dread when faced against him. Some even run away the moment the strongest aliens in their squad (aptly named Elites by the humans) get defeated. There is also Cortana, the AI who accompanies you for much of the game, giving off snarky commentary when she can, lampshading and highlighting many of the aspects of the game and providing a nice contrast to the mostly silent Master Chief.

The interactions of the character around him is what solidifies the Master Chief, and by extension the player, as a person of importance and makes the player feel good playing as him.

The Lens of Pleasure

The goal of a first person shooter is simple. Give the player an ability to shoot things and kill them in a satisfactory manner. In that way, I believe Halo has succeeded tremendously. As mentioned before, its many different weapons provide different ways to kill enemies. But that is not the only thing it has. It also provides a satisfying way to kill enemies through a melee attack to the back if the enemy is unaware of the player. Then there is also sending an enemy off the cliff and letting them fall to their death. Of course, there is the way of sticking a sticky Plasma Grenade onto an enemy and watching it struggle to get it off before exploding in a satisfying explosion of blue plasma. Then, there is simply driving over an enemy with a vehicle of choice. I believe Halo has brought much variety to the different ways to kill enemies, which entertains the player sufficiently until the very end.

The Lens of Skill

As my first game on the Xbox and technically my first video game ever, I can safely say that I possessed no prior ability with first person shooters. Halo was well made in that it rewards players for being skilled while still having a low learning curve. If you don’t know what to do, you are provided a default weapon capable of just holding down the trigger to pepper your enemies with a constant rain of bullets. However, as you grow more skilled, the default sidearm, the pistol, gives you the ability to one-shot most enemies with a headshot. The ability to melee attack is also well implemented, due to its ability to interrupt any action you are currently performing to perform a melee attack, thus allowing you to constantly be doing something and not be stuck in a reload animation while facing down an enemy. Skilled players who are able to get behind enemies are also rewarded by being able to melee attack them and thus kill in a single attack. The grenades also provide skilled players with the ability to put a well placed grenade to take out most enemies. The plasma grenade has the capability to ‘stick’ onto enemies, which means that a well placed plasma grenade ensures that enemy’s death. There is not much randomness in this game except for shot deviation, thus allowing players to improve their skill very easily.

The Lens of Curiosity

Halo has a large map for its time, and curiosity for exploring the map is rewarded a lot of the time. Sometimes, it is merely a hidden Medpack (which restores health) or an Overshield (which gives one more layer of shielding). However, at other times it is a stronger weapon or an easter egg.

This lens is expanded even further in the sequels, as more easter eggs (including the soon well-known Skulls) were added.

Conclusion

I think that Halo was a great game and a game of my childhood, which was why I chose it.

Official Website: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/games/journey-ps4/

Trailer Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU3nNT4rcFg
Game Play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8LzZj51ef4

Description:

In journey, players will play as a traveler with red robe and a black mask in the desert at first. The only determination is the mountain which is far away. We do not have any weapons during this journey, instead we only have a red scarf which will support us the ability of flying. As we collect more red cloth during the journey, the ability of flying will be enhanced. As we walk towards the high mountain, we will go through remnants of a once-thriving civilization. As we complete one chapter, we will find the stones where the forerunners rest and watch a fresco to know about the development of this civilization. During this journey, we will experience exploration, cooperation, dangers and even death. At last, when the travelers arrive at the top of the mountain, he will becomes a white meteor to the starting desert and start a new journey.

Elemental Tetrad:

1. Aesthetics:

Desert

Journey is really a beautiful game! During the journey to the top of mountains, we can enjoy the beautiful 3D scenes of desert, remnants, towers and snow mountains. It has really nice shadow and light effects and the scenes are all magnificent. The whole journey is filled with grace and Buddhist mood. There is no violence and competition in this game, instead there are understanding and supporting between players. Also, the music is perfect to show the beauty of the scenes. There is no dialogue in this game, but it is enough for players to feel the emotions through the music. In a nutshell, this game is full of the beauty of humanity and Buddhist mood.

2. Story:

Journey only has a simple story, that walking through deserts, remnants, towers, and snow mountains to the top of the mountain. There is no dialogue during the Journey, so that the meaning of the journey needed to be thought by the player self. The whole story is silent and harmonious. There will be a partner selected by the system which is acted by another real player during the journey. Players need to help and support each other until the end of the journey, but players will never know who the partner is because the random selection. It is just a fantastic meeting and journey and give different players different experience.

3. Mechanics:

In Journey, player only can walk, run, jump and fly for a while. Players can use these ability to go through the scenes, collect red cloth to enhance the flying ability and open gears. Players cannot communicate with another player, and they can only make a strange sound with a special symbol. They are not allowed to hurt each other, and can only help each other to solve the problem as well as complete the journey.

4. Technology:

This game is only available on PS4 and PS3 and has a high-quality game screen. It support most 2 players during one journey with internet connection.

Lens of Emotion:

At the start of this game, there is only yourself standing at a hill in the desert. It makes players feel alone as a lonely traveler. During flying through the remnants in the desert, it makes players feel excited when watching the large and beautiful scene of the desert. When the traveler is going to die in the cold snow mountain, players will feel sad for the death of the traveler. As the traveler is revived by the god and sees the nice scenes of the top of the mountains, players will feel pleased. The experience of the traveler and the well-timed music will lead the emotion of players.

The Top of The Mountain

Lens of Essential Experiences:

Journey is like an experience of life journey. At first, you are alone to walk towards your aims. During the journey, you will meet some partners to help you but you may not know their name. Also, you will meet dangers in the remnant and see beauty after overcome the dangers. You may almost die in the cold snow and be revived by strong spirit support. As you arrive at the final aim, you will be sent to the start of the journey and restart a new one as well as a new samsara. It is really like the journey of our life, but it is more harmonious and Buddhist mood to give us a really new experiences. It is from life experiences but higher than it with more fantasy.

Lens of Problem Solving:

There are not very hard problems in Journey. Most of the problem is open some gears to collect some red cloth, stones or release some fishes. Also, there are some problems like hiding from the enemies. These problems are not hard so that no mater you are a new player or old player, you can solve them easily. However, if you would like to collect all the items and achievements, you need to cooperate with your partner to jump higher or fly farther to open some special gears.

Lens of Beauty:

The beauty of Journey is not only from its scene and music, but also from its artistic conception. It is called a work of art by many game evaluation organization. It make player go far away from cities or noisy and feel the beauty of traveling and nature. It do not have any violence or competition, and it only makes players to think and enough the emotion. That the beauty of this game, peace, harmony and Buddhist mood.