Service Learning

(1) LIA Response to blog:

Literal

• I finished 10 hours with Koray Hagen up at Cal Poly. He thought me the basics of programming. I wasn't able to finish the 50 hours with him because he had to move to Seattle for some business.
• Completed 40 hours of service learning at Odyssey Gaming. I updated their computers and some of the programs that needed to be installed. I also helped them install some games and updated their graphic cards. This took a very long time because they have 45 computers at Odyssey Gaming were the computers also had to be cleaned. At times I did sit down and play when they told me I should play a game with them, it was pretty fun.

Interpretive

What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?
The most important thing that I gained from this experience would probably be what gamers do and why they do it. I realized that they play the games to have fun not just to look at them when they look pretty, that would be just like watching a film. Most of the gamers I've seen there stay for more than three hours at a time, boredom rarely hits them when playing a fun game. 

Applied

How did what you did help you answer your EQ? Please explain.
I got to hang around with some of the gamers there and talked to them about what they look for in video games. Most of them said they are more interested in a game only when its fun not when it looks cool or flashy. I also got to witness this when they would play, they would play games where gameplay was mostly applied not much of the graphical aspect.

(2) Confirmation of Contact Person

Morgan Beilby - President/CEO of Odyssey Gaming 

Business: 14586 Pipeline Ave. Chino, CA 19710

Work #: 909-393-3900

Mobile: 909-342-3015

E-mail: morgan@odyssey-gaming.com

May 14, 2011 – 3 Hours

May 15, 2011 – 8 Hours

May 17, 2011 – 5 hours

May 18, 2011 – 10 Hours

May 19, 2011 – 5 Hours

May 20, 2011 – 6 Hours

May 21, 2011 – 3 Hours

Independent Study 2

1.4/27/2011 4 hours
4/28/2011 3 hours
4/30/2011 6 hours
5/1/2011 5 hours
5/3/2011 4 hours
5/10/2011 2 hours
5/14/2011 4 hours
5/15/2011 2 hours


2. Posted Evidence:

3. Complete the LIA:


Literal


(a)I, Elias Giron, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.


(b) I recreated a game by following tutorials on how to put everything together and how to add pre-made scripts to the game to make it all work.


Interpretive


What I did was: Recreated a game that had already been done by following a set of tutorials that would help me accomplish the final product. I did what I did on my first independent task: added texture, sound, pre made scripts, some parts were already done but I had to make them work by adding mesh to make them not fall through the map/ platforms.


Applied


When recreating this 2d game, it thought me that gameplay is most important because not all games will be as fun as others. For example this game I recreated seemed to be much more fun than the game I created before, not much thought was put into the game I had made before.

Independent Study 1

1.2/5/2010 - What I did this day was watch tutorials on the program I was using and started playing around with it for a while. 2 1/2 hours total

2/6/2010 - I started to create a FPS game (adding terrain, bots, texture, and actions). 6 1/2 hours total. 

Did not get to finish the FPS I wanted because it was very difficult to accomplish without any knowledge of scripting. So I moved on to recreating a simple car game. 

2/9/2010 - I started building a car, I found the texture I wanted and installed it to it. 4 hours total.

2/11/2010 - Built a simple terrain with grass and hills where the car could roam around. 3 hours total. 

4/12/2010 - Worked on the car's specs. : Maneuver, brakes, buttons, top speed, acceleration, sounds. 9 hours total. 

4/13/2010 - Ran into a problem: Every time I wanted to use the car it would fall through the terrain. 3 total hours.

4/14/2010 -  Ran into another problem: Car wouldn't run so I found scripts that fit it and made the car run. 2 total hours.

2.

Here is the car falling through the map.

3. Complete the LIA:

Literal

(a) I, Elias Giron, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. 

(b) What I accomplished was: I recreated a normal racing game by making terrain, texture and making the car run on the terrain. Creating and coming up with an original one is very difficult because I am only a beginner at this program, there is so much to learn about this program.

Interpretive

Well, what I did was create a game that actually ran on my computer and the car actually ran. Also, I applied texture to the terrain and the car, I also added sound and music to the car (engine, brakes, and background music), assigned the buttons, added point light, also added they physics in the game.

Applied

This helped me answer my essential question because it led me to believe that what should be the most important thing in a game is gameplay. This independent task led me to believe that gameplay is most important because  the graphics were already set in the program, there isn't really much to do with the program. What was needed was brainstorming to create a story line for a game and create the game play. 

2 Hour Lesson Plan Rough Draft

EQ: What is the most important element in a video game?                       

Classroom Theme: Video game theme.

-Classic Video Game Logos/Characters

-Fonts

-Posters 

Sponge Activity: Brainstorming

1. What is the activity: The students will be required to come up with a character and his or her background.

2. How it will be done (materials included): Students will write down (pen or pencil) the name of their character and his or her background on a piece of paper.

3. How the activity relates to answer: It relates by giving the students a feeling that game designers go through when creating a game.

 Introduction: I will start off my presentation by introducing my topic and explaining my essential question. But first I will talk more about what my topic means (go into detail). After I will explain the meaning of my essential question.

Foundation: For this part of the presentation I will go into the career aspect of my topic. I will explain what a designer goes through and how it all works. I will also go into a little bit about the history, not a whole lot just a little bit. 

Answer 1: Gameplay

Information taught:

I will talk about the importance of game-play in a video game. I will inform what the next several things have that tie in with game-play.

-          Story line

-          Replay-ability

-          Online Play

Anwer 2: Graphics

Information taught:

Graphics are probably the most noticeable element in a video game that can be seen improved. I will explain about graphics and why it is significantly getting better.

Answer 3: Mechanics

Information taught:

Mechanics are the bonus parts to a game. For example the death mechanism in a game is usually the same for every game; you die and they you respawn. Making mechanisms original and creative can really make a game great.

Answer 1 Activity: Minecraft

1. What is the activity: Minecraft play.

2. How it will be done: Students will play Minecraft on the computers.

2. How the activity relates to answer: Minecraft is a great game that has super pixilated graphics. This will show that with great game play graphics sometimes don’t matter.

3. All materials for activity: Computers. (I will bring an extra)

Answer 2 Activity: Not yet thought of one.

Answer 3 Activity: Not yet thought of one.

Best Answer: 

I am still debating on my best answer. My two choices are either graphics or gameplay.

Conclusion:

What I’m thinking of doing: Talk about three games and relate them to each one of my answers. For example graphics: Crysis after I talk about Crysis I will explain why it ties into graphics. 

Product: What I got through  this year of experience is how to make a game that will be financially succesful just by answering my essential question. I also realized that a degree isn't really needed in this business.