MITx: 11.

126x Introduction to Game Design

Week 2 Gameblox assignment: find the fun.
Eugenio Jacobo Hernndez Valdelamar
November, 2014.

Introduction
This assignment explores prototyping a simple digital game. Starting with a basic template, the goal is
to experiment with different game mechanics and game objects, seeking a core set of repeatable game
actions that create an engaging, interesting experience for the player.

Core mechanic
The proposed game is based on the video-game Berzerk, released on 1980.

The player controls a green stick man. Using a joystick and a firing button that activates a laser-like
weapon, the player navigates a simple maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the player
character. A player can be killed by being shot, by running into a robot or an exploding robot, coming
into contact with the electrified walls of the maze itself, or by being touched by the player's nemesis,
Evil Otto1.
The game is most difficult when the player enters a new maze, as there is only a short interval between
entering the maze and all the robots in range firing at the player.
1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berzerk_%28video_game%29

Probably the best-remembered feature of Berzerk is that the robots talk. This was one of the first video
games to use speech synthesis.
In 1980 computer voice compression was extremely expensiveestimates were that this cost the
manufacturer US$1,000 per word; the English version had a thirty-word vocabulary.
The game's voice synthesizer generates speech for the robots during certain in-game events:

"Coin detected in pocket": During attract mode, specifically while showing the high score
list.
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!": Spoken when Evil Otto appears.
"The humanoid must not escape" or "The intruder must not escape": Heard when the player
escapes a room after destroying every robot.
"Chicken, fight like a robot": Heard when the player escapes a room without destroying
every robot.
"Got the humanoid, got the intruder!": Heard when the player loses a life.

Paper prototype
I made a paper prototype based in what I
remember from the game and some images I
found. The idea was to have a similar scene, but
for now, without exits. Only one player is on the
room and some robots are distributed randomly.
A player can shot to robots and robots can shot to
the player (humanoid). The player can move the
humanoid with arrow keys and robots can move
randomly in the room.
Shots can be horizontal and vertical.
If a bullet from the player touches a robot, the
robot disappears and the score increments.
If a bullet from a robot touches the humanoid, its
health value decreases.
Game end when the player eliminates all the
robots, or the robots diminish the players health to
zero.

BerzerkBlox
After the paper prototype was finished, I proceeded to make the digital prototype using Gameblox.
I defined the following elements:
Sprites
Humanoid
Robot
Wall
Box
Bullet
Labels
Score
Health
Game status
The scene/stage include a labyrinth with 3 walls and 2 boxes. A humanoid representing the player is
added too.

The main reference for this implementation was the Shooter demo. During the coding process, behavior
was added as:
Events
when game starts (initialization, main loop and termination conditions)
when space bar is pressed
when bullets collide with robots, humanoid, bullets and other objects
3

Procedures
humanoid movement
robots movement

Instead of creating robot's instances by hand, it was by code that the class was cloned to generate 5
robots and locate them randomly.
Bullets can only travel horizontally; calculate vertical and horizontal trajectories implies more coding.
No sound was added. This is a limitation of the tool.
Background is white. Can it be changed?
I love the humanoid! He is like Hans Moleman.

Final comments
Paper prototype was very useful to limit the game's scope (visuals and behavior).
Base mechanic was well known, so final product is basically a reduced version of the original game.

In the end, the original layout was changed adding boxes, that when hit by bullets, move around the
room.
Additional to the layout, it was useful to write down on paper the rules of behavior. I used a syntax
similar to the one used by the programming blocks.
I think is important to take the time to define what to do, because as mentioned, the effort needed to do
the digital prototype is bigger than do it in paper.
The initial tests of the digital prototype produce some estrange effects, like bullets hitting the player
when they were created, or a myriad of bullets created by robots because of the random conditions.
The effect that bullets provoked on walls at first (a bullet moving the entire wall) was included but with
the boxes.
Maybe to consider vertical shots next time, can make the game more agile, but this has to do more with
coding.
Future version may include the entries/exits of the original game. However this implies to have
multiple scenarios, and at this point I dont know how to do it with Gameblox.
But the feature I wish to add is sound! That will add atmosphere!