GDW Game Completed

Our GDW game is now done with and officially submitted. In my opinion the title is a bit misleading as I don't feel that we have much when compared with some of the other groups.

Unfortunately a lot of people in the group (myself included) weren't too interested in the game after the design was completely re-done by the game designer. It was originally supposed to be a more cartoony game but our designer didn't get into GDW3 so somebody else took over as the designer.

Also, although our group seemed big only so many of us were actually working on the game, and two programmers can only do so much.

That aside, I think it was a nice little demo we have. If anything this was a good learning experience. The game engine course felt like a "throw you into the ocean so you can learn how to swim" kinda course, hand having to dig around everywhere and try to follow some of the examples was a good way to learn how engines worked.

Hopefully whatever game we work on next semester will be a much more well planned out game and everyone will be interested in working on it.

Weekly Update

So for this past week I have been working on getting the game in release mode, particle systems, and joints in maya.

I have been able to get the game in release mode, so it is safe to say that we will be able to build our game in release mode for the final submission.

The particle systems however, is proving to be a bit troublesome and although the game is compiling and running without errors, nothing shows on the screen and I am working to solve that problem.

Up until recently, I didn't know that it was a requirement for the model to be in the final game, and now that I recently found out, I had to take some time out to fix up the model and work on the assignment. Here is a picture of what it looks like now:

I will be spending most of this next week working on the model in order to finish it in time for the assignment due date as well as in time to get it into the game.

Weekly Update

For the past week the group has made good progress. The reason for this was because the milestone was supposed to be due this week but was pushed back. The group had worked hard to put all the code together and create a prototype of the game for the GDW workshop.

I have been busy with getting 3D sound to work as well as getting a base set up for loading shaders into the game. I believe it will eventually make everybody's lives easier as they will just have to put the shader/sound into the game and don't have to worry about getting it set up properly before it will work with the game.

I will most likely be spending this week on creating all of the sound with another member of our group as the person in our sound department has decided to quit and not work on the sounds anymore. Hopefully we will be able to get all of the sounds recorded and put into the game for the actual milestone due next week.

Weekly Update

With assignments slowly creeping up on me and piling up I now have to try to make the most out of this week as I may not be able to spend as much time as I hope to on programming. For programming I've continued to work on the particle system and it is almost complete. I only recently got my hands on the psd files for the particles so I will now be working on a tga loader to load them in. Once that is done, it should only be a matter of tweaking the numbers in order to get the particles move properly and as desired.

On the business side of things, some other team members and I have managed to complete what is hopefully the last assignment for the course. Hopefully, we are correct and with business out of the way, I can spend that time focusing on programming the game.

Having had some small meetings with other members in the team, it seems everybody in each department is making good progress, although the amount of work required to finish the game is still significant with some members wondering whether or not the game will truly be "complete" within a few weeks. As for me, I don't think the game will truly appear "finished" in December. It will probably look like a game in it's beta phase and hopefully we will get to continue to work on this over the next semester and the final result will be a fun game.

Milestone 3

With milestone 3 due this week, it was a good opportunity to see just how well everything is going in the big picture. With the game being due in 3 weeks, it feels like development of the game is way behind schedule and still needs a lot of work. However, after having done professor Finney's exercise and having a discussion with him, it seems the team is doing fine and is on schedule.

All of the business stuff has been taken care of well ahead of time, so I can say that I am ahead of schedule there. For the programming side of things, I have been playing around with the FMOD files, trying to get them to play a few sounds while I wait for the sound department to start producing sounds. For the art side of things, although I have little involvement in that department, it seems they are making good progress. There are now models the programmers are able to use, although they aren't final yet and will continue to change in the coming weeks.

Weekly Blog Post

With a huge pile of work gone off of my desk, I've been able to spend more time working on our game this week. I was able to set up some of the basic stuff for our game and get it going. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on some of the models so I had to quickly make a level in Maya. I decided to the base into a bowling game until I can get my hands on the models and be able to load them in and code them. Also, I've been able to get the Xbox 360 controller working, and I can now control the amount of vibration on each motor as well as allow the player to throw the ball down the lane using the D pad.

Here's a picture of the level I quickly made just to test out the controls and have the basics all set up. The ball was thrown down the lane using the Xbox 360 controller as input.

I will probably be working on getting FMOD to work next. That way, when all the sound files have been recorded, we can easily put them into the game without much hassle.

Work Pile Up!

My week has been and will continue to be filled with a pile up of assignments (mainly business). I've taken a huge chunk of my time this week working on business course assignments in order to make sure the group stays on top of things in this area as our current business lead has not been doing a very good job.

Looking at the project management assignment, I can say that our group is actually doing okay this year in terms of staying on schedule. Some of the things I had hoped would be done weren't really done but they're nothing major and I'm happy to report that everybody is doing what they are supposed to and we are currently on track when compared with the schedule originally created.

The remainder of my time (time not spent on business) has been spent on playing around with wildmagic and exploring everything it has to offer. This is for helping me with programming for our game, getting Dr. Hogue's assignments done, as well as preparing me for the midterm, which seems to be working out well. Below are some screenshots of what the homework assignment look like:

The first one is taught me some of the basics of working with wildmagic such as translating, zooming, and rotating, which have all been applied to a textured object. The second one is of a ball smashing into a wall of cubes/bricks and having knocked them down. After the workload dies down this week I'll be able to spend more time on programming some more stuff for our game. I'm currently considering spending more time on getting the xbox 360 controller to work with wildmagic but I guess that all depends on whether or not the team needs me to work on something else that is more important first.

October 17 Update

Not much to report for this week's GDW update. Milestone 2 is due today and the design is finished for the most part. Everybody has gone over the GDD and final changes / edits are being made at time of writing this post.

Since I will be working on mainly programming for this game, I have taken some time out to work on programming assignments and see how everything will tie in when it comes to programming the game. One program that has helped me a lot is 'Visual Assist X' (http://www.wholetomato.com). It makes the code THAT much more easier to work with and has allowed to me grasp the basics of working with the wild magic engine. I have been choosing questions from Dr. Hogue's homework assignments that I think will be most useful for programming our game.

Unfortunately I am not spending as much time on programming as I hope to due to midterms and other assignments from other courses piling up with due dates in the same week, however, once most of it has been taken care of I will definitely be working full time programming our game.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The character model assignment from last week's post was extended by another week, so I've had some more time to work on it. Here's what it looks like now:

 

A big thank you goes out to all of my friends that helped me out every now and then throughout this here. It would probably still look like a poorly sculpted building right now if it weren't for all the help (for those that have seen the original version of this from when I first started).

As for programming I haven't really had the opportunity to get down and dirty and start programming like crazy for the game yet. I have however, been working on getting Xbox 360 controller support working. Fortunately, I've was able to find a good simple tutorial and was able to get it working. What still has to be done is to get it to work with the game / wild magic. I may or may not have the time to get to finishing that for next week but what's for sure is I'll be studying hard for midterms and also programming hard in order to finish some of Dr. Hogue's programming assignments before the midterm.

Also, now that design for the game is pretty much complete, I will try to plan a group meeting before the next milestone class so that everyone knows what the game is all about and what everyone is supposed to be doing.

Weekly Blog Post

I've been working hard at finishing a project management assignment this past week and now that it is done, I believe it will be a big help for the group. All the work has been broken down into individual tasks and each one has been assigned to group members and everybody knows what they are doing. On top of that, there is a nice schedule in MS Project to allow us to see where we should be on a particular day, which will help determine if we are ahead of schedule, on track, or falling behind. Hopefully this will help our group stay on top of things this semester.

Besides the assignment, I've been working on a character model for both an assignment and another game on the side. Here's a sneak peek of what he looks like right now:

The character is nowhere near complete and still needs a lot of patching up. This is only a sneak peek of the 15-20 hours that I've put into it this week. Hopefully by Wednesday it'll be complete and looking much better than what it is right now (when it's due).

Unfortunately, my GDW game doesn't have enough characters and only 2-3 people in the group are actually modelling a character that will be used in the final game. This is why I decided to go with modelling a character from my own game this semester.

Most of the design is starting to become finalized and hopefully programming work for the game will start soon.

Milestone 1

Over the past week, the group had ran into a bump in the road and unfortunately one of our group members had been pulled from 3rd year GDW. The group is still searching for a new member to join us.

Aside from that bump in the road, the group is on track to have milestone 1 completed on time. The commitment document has been completed as well as my individual list of tasks that I must complete for this year's GDW. At this point everybody knows what their jobs are and what's left is to go through and edit the documents, and do a group meeting to make sure everything has been covered and no task has been forgotten.

For me this year, I will be doing almost the same stuff last year for the programming department. Some items on my to do list include: save/load system, 3D sound, controller input, particles, plan group meetings, and help out with some of the business documents that need to be written.

The design of the game/levels is for the most part complete. However, nothing is really 100% final yet and there will still be some tweaks here and there before the design is final. Levels have been planned out and the art department has also started working on some concept art for some of the levels. On top of that, sketches have also been done for the characters since it was part of a modelling assignment that was due last week.

New School Year = New Game

It's a new school year and that means it's time for a new game for the game development workshop. For this year's game, our group is creating a puzzle/strategy game. Here's some info about the game we have planned:

• 8 stages
• Ghosts for some characters (player will need to use voice to figure out what kind of ghost they are and perform the appropriate action)
• Items will be more "factory style" (example: wrench, flashlight, screwdriver, etc.) and there won't be guns/swords/blades or weapons of that type

Each team member's roles are pretty much the same as last years with a few changes made.

Currently, the team is working on a list of things that will need to be done so that everybody will know what needs to be done for the game and will have something to follow on for the rest of the semester/year. The design of the game is still in it's early stages and some members feel the game's design in its current state is more of a horror game than puzzle/strategy while others find that there is a balance between the two.

In order to stay on track (and to meet assignment due dates) concept art for the game has already been given the green light and some members are working on concept sketches for characters while others work towards finalizing the game's design and finishing a to-do list for everybody so they know what to do.

THE END! of gdw

The version of the game that will be for marks has already been submitted..........2.5 hours late. During this last week everyone gave it that final push in order to make the game even better. Unfortunately, there are still components missing from it that would make it feel more completed. Although any new features won't make it in for marks, the team is still going to continue working on the game adding bits and pieces to it before the presentation on Friday.

Most of this week for me has been filled with writing, writing, and more writing (along with some sound recording). The people originally working on the documents fell behind and a lot of people from the team ended up having to stop what they were doing and help with some of the documents. With the sound recordings, I helped record a few sounds for what is supposed to be "asian mode", although I'm not too sure on whether or not this mode actually made it into the submitted version of the game.

 Again, I haven't had the chance to play games this week. On the + side, now that the game is "done" with and there's no pressure to rush in order to add anything into the game, I will definitely take some time off during the week and play a few games :D

April 5th Post

Time for another weekly update :D. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to play games this week since I’ve been busy programming for the game. I’ve been working on adding in new sounds that the sound department has given me throughout the week. Also, I’ve been working at adding them with the master copy thinking the game would be due. On the + side, the game due date has been extended for another week, which gives us more time to add to the game. On the other hand, it’s also a bit frustrating to find out last minute that you get more time since everyone’s been pulling all nighters to try and get the game finished.
One thing I did get to do was go to the Level Up event in Toronto and got a chance to try out some student games. I have to say, all of the games were very fun to play and my personal favourite was Figure of Breach. It was fun to play but would’ve been better if there were more shapes since it was very easy to see repeat shapes. I certainly would have loved to participate but the notice was really last minute and we didn’t have enough time to get the game to a level where we felt confident it would get us great reviews.
Currently, I am helping with the menu, HUD, and collision boxes. Once these are done, I will most likely stop programming for a day or two and help out with the business pitch and other reports required by the other profs.
Overall, I am a bit unsatisfied with the current progress of the game. I think if we did a bit more planning and everyone worked a bit harder we could be a bit further ahead. However, these last few days have been very productive since everyone thought the game would be due. Here’s a screenshot of what the game currently looks like:

THE END IS NEAR!

With only a few days remaining until the project due date, everyone in the group is busier than ever (especially the programmers). The group had a lot planned for the game but the delay we had with the art side means the programming side has fell behind as well. The basic course requirements are almost done and we’re not too worried about not being able to meet them on time. The biggest problem is probably with getting all the other stuff we had planned together. I’m sure the game will turn out great even if worse comes to worse and we can’t get everything in there for the submission due date.

I’ve been busy getting the audio to work, fixing up the particle system, adding what happens when cars die, menu, and HUD. One of the programmers has been having trouble and so his work has been put onto my plate unfortunately.

During the week I’ve spent some time playing the game ‘Punishment’. I have to say, that game is VERY punishing. Having to run back to the beginning at the start of every level and then make it back can get frustrating at times, especially in the higher levels, where there is a pole the player must precisely land on. The music for the game is okay for the most part, but is very annoying on some levels, most notably the blue background level. The game has good design since the levels provide a fair level of frustration but is still passable as long as the player doesn’t give up and keeps working at it.

As usual, here is a gameplay video:

Weekly Blog Post

For this week, the game that I got to play was Yakuza 3 for the PS3. I haven't played a PS3 game in a while, and I have to say that this game kinda sucked in terms of its core gameplay since it involves a lot of running around and reading blocks of scrolling text. Although the game is heavy on the reading, I did enjoy the game as the story had many twists and turns to keep me interested as well as a wide variety of "random" activities. They activities themselves also keep the game interesting. The graphics for the game were decent, but I think they definitely could have been better. Audio was on the lower end of the scale, since a lot of the sounds were repeating and weren't as real as I had hoped they would be.

As usual, here is a gameplay video:

As for the update on the game progress, the programming side seems to be the farthest ahead but there is still a lot of work to be done. Having all the models completed only a few days ago means we have more work to do. To add to the work, a lot of the rendering work now has to be converted so it is done in the hardware rather than software because of the lag. We still have to do menu, glow, power ups, as well as putting them altogether (throwing in sound and particles into the main version). There's a long way to go over these next 2 weeks but I'm sure the game will turn out great.

Weekly Blog Post

For this week the game I'm going to talk about is 'Coin Dozer' for the iPhone. This game is pretty much "that game" from the arcade where you keep putting in coins into the top, it drops to the bottom, and you try to get the machine to push your coin off the surface in order to win points. Aside from coins, the game has prizes that you can collect as well as special coins that give you bonuses for a few seconds.

The game is great in that it loads almost instantly and you're in the game. There are no menus to go through which means no wait time. On the other hand, the lack of instructions may make it hard for some players to figure out what to do. The sounds are nice but seem a bit unrealistic.

For the most part the game is fun to play and the ad is placed in a non-intrusive location. The biggest problem with the game is the occasional crashes that will reset the game surface as well as the 4 coin limit. The game does not allow the player to drop more than 4 coins in a row which seems to take out a bit of the fun.

As usual here's a gameplay video.

As for the update on the GDW game, the due date is almost here and everyone's working hard to get the game "completed" on time. At the moment I'm working on repulsion/collision detection as well as the main menu. On the down side a lot of the stuff depends on the art dept team members which means if something goes wrong or someone falls behind the programmers have less time to work with piecing it together. Overall, I think we're making good progress as we have a running game that is playable, particles are done, the physics of the game is almost correct, and most of the sounds needed for the game are already recorded. All that's left are shaders, piecing everything together, writing a mountain of reports, and finally polishing it.

Weekly Blog Post

For the past week I've found myself hooked onto Slingo Supreme. This old game is interesting and fun to play because it combines Bingo with Slots. The general idea of the game is simple: hit the spin button, get 5 numbers (1 for each column), and try to match your board with the numbers you got from the spin. In the supreme version, users can play with powerups such as devil protection (protects you from loosing points in the mini gambling games), x-ray (see where powerups are hidden on the board), free spins, extra points, etc. Users also try to match a certain pattern and if it is done, there will be bonus points awarded. Although fun on its own without sound, I think the casino like sounds that are made when spinning for numbers gets the player even more hooked into the game. Here's a short gameplay video to give you an idea:

For the GDW update, I've uploaded a picture of the particle system (and yes it took me a while). I'm currently working on collisions detection/response for the game. A basic implementation was already done previously, but it still some work (especially in the repulsion area) so I will be spending a day or two trying to fix it up.

For anyone interested, here's a link to the tutorial for this particle system:

http://www.swiftless.com/tutorials/opengl/particles.html

I've used it as a base and made a few modifications. Once the collisions are working correctly I will either be working on a png loader / main menu for the game or will be going back to this particle system and adding more to it so that it is more customizable (the art department has asked that an alpha component be added, direction should be changed, change it so that there is a spark like effect rather than fountain / bursting out effect, and also look into creating fog as it may be needed in the game)

March 1st post

Super Meat Boy is the game that I've played this week. I came across this game on gamespot and decided to give it a try. My first thoughts on this game are its fun to play and it was easy to pick up (in terms of controls / story). The tutorials in the first few levels teach you all the basics you'll need to know and the story is shown at the beginning of the game and is fairly simple. You are meat boy and you are trying to save your girlfriend bandage girl from Dr. Fetus.

The gameplay is fairly fun as each level has its challenges and boss levels have harder unique challenges for the player. What makes the game a bit more challenging is the fact that meat boy will "slip" and slide off walls, meaning the player has to be quick. Sometimes, walls will break after contact and they are used as obstacles in various levels. What makes this game fun is that most of the time the player has to die many many times before they get the level right (similar to 'I wanna be the guy'). The game has some good sound effects and good background music and really gets the playing going while they're playing.

As for the GDW update this week, unfortunately, assignments as well as midterms have gotten in the way and has prevented me from doing a lot of work for the game this week. I've made the time to finish the pitch assignment, which has a lot of the details / costs for the game. Also, the pgm loader assignment has been completed, which is most likely going to be of some use in the near future. For this week I will most likely try to spend more time getting more programming done for the game since milestone 3 is coming up and groups are required to submit prototype code.

Feb 22 Update

For this week, the game that I played was Flywrench. This was one of the games I was supposed to play for last week’s review but never had the chance to get to. I find this a weird but simple and fun to play game. Playing as the flywrench, the player must “flap” their way through the stage and make it to the end. Tutorials were brilliantly incorporated into the game as they taught the player what they needed to know before they entered the planet. Each planet will basically have that obstacle along with any previously encountered obstacles, which, makes it pretty challenging by the time the player is close to finishing the game. The rules are also very simple, the player must change into the appropriate color to pass through barriers, if that color is not available, then it must be avoided. The only part I wasn’t too happy about was the sound. The sounds do fit in with the theme to some degree but probably would have been better without all the extra weirdness put into it.

 

As for the GDW update, I’ve started working on some of the documents and reports that will have to be submitted with the game. For the week, I’ve been able to finish a large part of the pitch and internal cost analysis. As for the particle system, I’m tweaking it here and there while bugging the art department for images I can use for the particles. My goal is to have them look more like sparks or smoke since they will be necessary in the game. At the moment there, the particles look and behave like water coming from a water fountain (unfortunately I still haven’t made some time to go in, grab the screenshot, and upload it).

Feb. 16 Update

For the past week, I’ve spent more time playing iPhone games and for this review I’m going to talk about ‘Boxed In 2’. To start off, this game has NO AUDIO, which kind of sucks. On the other hand, audio is fairly pointless in this simple puzzle game but some background music would be nice. The goal of the game is simple: collect all the gears and reach the exit. Although it sounds easy, this game can get mind boggling at times. There are coloured barriers that block your path and you must push cardboard boxes into the corresponding coloured ‘tile’ to open it. The player is a robot and makes 1 move at a time, can only push boxes (no pulling), and undo will only work for one move (the most recent one made). Once the player gets further into the game, it becomes obvious that each move must be carefully considered since they MUST be moved in a certain way, otherwise, it will not work out. 

‘Boxed In 2’ is the sequel to the original ‘Boxed In’, which is exactly the same in terms of gameplay and graphics. The only difference is in the puzzles. ‘Boxed In 3’ has also been released recently and from the looks of it there seems to be some changes in the graphics. Other than that, gameplay seems to remain the same. A spinoff in this series is the ‘Iced In’ game, which follows the same basic concept of moving boxes except for the fact that the player is trying to save a penguin and with each push, the ice cube (box) will slide all the way to the other end or until it hits an obstacle. 

The game is heavily focused on the gameplay portion as it offers many different puzzles. The challenging gameplay is what compensates for the lack of music and makes it acceptable to have more ‘cartoony’ graphics for everything. Overall, it is a fun game that’s worth the $0.99 (or nothing if you’ve downloaded them when they were free) and is a great way to pass time on the bus.

Here's a gameplay / walkthrough video for one of the levels:

For the progress update on the GDW game, I’ve finally managed to finish the particle system! The current state of the system allows for it to be easily integrated into the game and should prove to be easy to for use on the various particles in the game. The system does need to be patched up here and there but they are very minor and I will also continue to add to it should it become necessary. Also, I am doing some research into salaries and costs for various things (rent, software licenses, etc.). This is for the cost analysis portion of the pitch document.

As soon as I get the chance I will post a video / screenshot of the system. My regular school laptop has been sent in for repairs and running bootcamp on a mac WILL fail hard when you want to print screen... I have yet to find a keyboard shortcut for doing so so I will post one when I get the chance.

Weekly post

The game I’ve been playing for this week is Game Dev Story for the iPhone. The main point/goal of the game is to successfully manage your own game company. Taking place over 20 years, you must decide who to hire/fire, whether to develop a game or do contract work, which systems to develop for, how to advertise your company, and managing your fan base. What I find interesting is that it bears a lot of similarities with companies and consoles in real life. For example, Sony is Sonny in the game, while PlayStation is called the PlayStatus in the game. After successfully completing a game (or unsuccessfully should you decide to ship it before completion), the game is rated by 4 people assumed to be “experts”, and then the game goes on sale. The sound in the game is nice in that it has some 8-bit as well as more modern sounds. The graphics also have a bit of an 8-bit feel to them in certain parts of the game. The game is easy to pick up and play since everything is pretty much menu/option based. All the user has to do is select the desired option, which means its rules are fairly ‘enforced’ and is not more ‘relaxed’ in terms of allowing the user to go wherever they want in the world and do whatever they please. Although fun to play through the first few times, the game easily gets repetitive as many events are almost predictable. For example, a gaming event happens every year where you are allowed to purchase a booth to showcase your games, a salesman comes along every few months and offers you items that boost your company, and once you know the options in the menus there is really nothing that can surprise you.

Here's a gameplay video:

For anyone interested, I believe the game is still on sale for $0.99 (75% off if I remember correctly)

For my GDW update, some of the functions in the particle system need to be re written since they “don’t work” very well. Also, minor changes are being done here and there to make the system easier to work with/integrate into the main game. Also, work has begun on the game pitch. Controls, background story, enemies, power ups, achievements, and other parts of the game are starting to “come together” and are being added to the pitch. The group is planning to have 2 modes for the game, 1 where it is a “race” and first one past the finish line wins while the other is a more team based version. Using power ups or any other methods, players on the same team must try to stop others from the other team from crossing the finish line. The first player to cross the finish line will bring victory to their team. In terms of art, it is planned to be ‘Tron-style’ where everything is lighted up. The vehicles will have a futuristic look to them. The game is titled Illuminate, which is intended to hint at the look/feel of the game.

Game critique

For my critique this week I will be critiquing Gran Turismo 5. The game was developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony, and was designed by no other than Polyphony Digital’s CEO / “father of Gran Turismo”, Kazunori Yamauchi. Released November 24th 2010, the game is one of the most realistic driving games currently available. The game achieves this goal through giving players life like performance/handling of cars as well as including providing high detail in every model and environment.

In the game’s “A-Spec” mode, players play as a professional racer by earning licenses and racing their way up the ranks in tracks throughout the world. Each track has its own starting position (also the ending position), and the only way to reach your goal (winning) is to race through the entire track. In “B-Spec” mode, players take on the role of a team director and must turn their racers (AI) into a world class racing champion. B-spec mode is all about strategy, as players must do the right thing and change their strategies accordingly during races. It’s all about observing and strategy rather than getting behind the wheel.

In a typical round in A-spec mode, it is very similar to an actual race. Players start either already running or at rest and race a predetermined number of laps around the track. The player usually starts in the middle and decisions that the player has to make include whether or not to follow the “guide” lines that help “newbie’s” as well as when to overtake another racer. Most tracks have only 1 road, so it is impossible for the player to take any shortcuts or drive off the track. In races that have the track splitting up, one is blocked up to prevent the player from going the wrong way. The only other possibility is for the player to be going backwards, in which there will be a do not enter sign that continuously flashes.

In a typical round in B-spec mode, the player watches the entire race. The main decision that the player must make throughout is what the driver should do. Available commands include pace up, pace down, maintain pace, and overtake. Players must make the proper decisions and plan their strategies accordingly in order to lead the team to victory. In this mode, in addition to showing information about the car (speed/tire condition etc.), it also shows information about the driver (strength/mental strength).

These are some of the information types in the game:

Money: Called ‘credit’ in the game; it is used to purchase cars and services. Services in the game range from almost “pointless” (50 Cr. Car washes) to racing modifications.

Vehicles: Kept in the garage; represents cars that the player owns in the game. Some of them are available for purchase from dealerships (new/used/online) while some are delivered to the player as a reward for winning a certain race or completing a certain event. Once purchased or won, the player is free to use the car in career mode for any race (provided it meets race requirements).

Licenses: Designed to test players on their driving abilities (similar to getting a real drivers license). There are ‘tests’ that the player must complete in order to get the license. Licenses are required in order to participate in certain events and to buy certain cars. The licenses in order (from lowest to highest) are: B, A, IC, IB, IA, and S. Each license has 3 subtypes which are bronze, silver, and gold.

Trophies: Given out for achieving something ‘significant’ in the game. Used mostly for “showing off” to friends / other gamers and does not give the player any special advantages in the game. There are some hidden trophies in the game for players to “find unexpectedly”. For example, there is a trophy awarded for damaging a car to the point where a part falls off.

Looking at the GUI of the game, the menus have been designed to be simple and elegant. Each item usually has its own “block” / icon along with some text telling the player what that option does. In some cases, options are grouped together so they are easy to find/access. For example, in career mode, actions that require the user to be online and signed into the PlayStation Network are put in one column while offline is placed beside it. The in game HUD has also been designed so that it feels similar to other racing games / maintains the HUD placements in previous GT games. (Example: Speedometer is near the bottom, lap and map info is at the top left, time is in the middle, etc.)

The main input device is the PS3 controller. Again, the controls have been mapped to maintain that traditional GT feel and the mappings are usually used in most other similar racing games (x to accelerate, square to brake, D-pad or analog stick to steer, etc.). The mapping works well since anyone who has played a racing game will be able to easily figure out the controls without having to go through the instructions. In the game’s B-spec mode, the only controls involved are using the d-pad to select action and x to confirm. Again, this works well since it is exactly the same as how the player would select items in other menus. A second option the player has is to use a steering wheel as the input device. The biggest difference here would be allowing the player to steer the car rather than use the d-pad/analog stick to steer. Also, depending on model, it may also come with pedals, which would then completely replace the traditional controller and provide the player with a more life like driving experience.

In terms of audio / sound, the game has done a great job since there are a variety of music styles. When in the menus, the jazz music fits in with the simplicity/elegance theme. When racing, a rock song usually plays and is intended to get the player moving. Car sounds / sound effects are similar to ones in real life in order to maintain the high level of realism. Cars sound almost the same as they do in real life and crashes (depending on with what object/speed/etc.) will sound incredibly real. Overall, it contributes to the whole realistic experience of the game.

Some of the special features included that make the game more enjoyable include: online multiplayer, course maker for making custom tracks, ability to drive/upgrade NASCAR, rally, kart, and drift vehicles, 3D compatibility, and use of PlayStation Eye for head movement tracking. These features help push the game that extra mile and set some high standards for future racing games.

Compared to a similar game such as PGR4, GT5 is more realistic but at one point it does have a repetitive feeling for the average gamer. PGR4 on the other hand seems to be more “fun” and is targeted more towards the average gamer rather than car enthusiasts. The different weather effects in the game do have a certain level of realism and awarding ‘kudos’ for stylish driving provides a bit of a spin compared to the “traditional” way of rewarding money for winning races all the time. GT5 seems to geared towards car enthusiasts / diehard fans of the series while PGR4 seems to target the previously mentioned group as well as more casual gamers.

The high degree of realism was the most essential part of the game. From the first GT game up until GT5, the game’s high degree of realism has traditionally been what separated GT from other racing titles.

Non-essential features that could be left out without sacrificing game play include:

PlayStation Eye: The head tracking feature only works in career mode with interior view and its only purpose is to allow the player to move their head to the side and get a view of the side windows.

Karts: Although to drive around and makes the game a bit more enjoyable, it would’ve been nice if Polyphony Digital left it out and instead added a few more cars.

One non-essential feature that should still be kept in the game is the 3D compatibility. Although it’s making use of the most recent technology, playing the game in 3D does not make the game any better or worse. 3D TV’s are still new in today’s market and not many people are willing to buy one since there isn’t as a wide variety of 3D content available.

One feature that should definitely be improved on is the damage done to cars during crashes. Although likely to be computationally expensive and drag down the whole gaming experience, it is the one feature that seems to be “missing” from the series. GT2 featured a damage system although it was not visual. GT5 features visual damages as well as physical and the downside to this is that the car must sustain quite a bit of damage before the player can see some real damage.

The instructions manual provided with the game contains all the standard information that gives the player warnings/basics on the PS3 and the controller. It also explains the controls and provides a brief description of each mode available in the game (A-spec, B-spec, license, photo, etc.). There is a small learning curve and the documentation is there to help new players quickly get up to speed since a lot of the modes/features/controls can easily be figured out in game.

AI racers in the game are a bit of a surprise. They are “smarter” since they will make mistakes, race each other, react accordingly to the player or any crashes. They are at the appropriate difficulty levels since each level will provide players with the right amount of challenge. For example, in easy difficulty they are easier to overtake and aren’t as aggressive while in hard difficulty the player will have a hard time overtaking a majority of the racers while having to deal with the aggressiveness of some racers that may be behind the player.

There are no “new” rules as this is a racing game. Cars behave as they would in the real world; meaning the player won’t be able to fly or drive at some super crazy impossible to reach speed. Starting position is determined by the game, with all rules of a race applying (first past the finish line wins, second and third also get silver and bronze trophies, everyone else after that looses).

Looking at the culture of the game, it features cars from around the world. Although a lot of car manufacturers are featured in the game, not all of the cars manufactured are available. Also, the game also features tracks from around the world.