Thumbnail Assignment V2

On the Edge

This is my first assignment for my Photography class, and I have to say, it was a really fun project to do, and it had a good challenge to it that really made me think about my subject and my composition within my image. For this assignment, I was tasked with gathering 30 or more images of people, vehicles, trees, signs.....anything really, but I had to make that subject appear "on the edge" as the title entails. This meant that I had to angle my camera to take the photos in a way where my subject would either be on the right, left, top, or bottom edges of the photo instead of more towards the center.

In my image, I really wanted to incorporate leading lines so viewers wouldn't be so easily distracted from my focal point, so, what better than to use a brick wall? Highlighted in red just shows the multitude of different leading lines that lead straight to the door (which is my focal point) and I feel it turned out really well. However, what I noticed as I went into post-production were the other techniques that were actually present in this image that I originally didn't think of when I snapped the photo. As shown in blue, the rule of thirds isn't highly apparent in this image, but the door is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the point on the left. Also, in green is a shadow that was cast by a nearby tree, and it somewhat made a frame for the door, so I was glad I shot this during this time of the day and not any later.

Really the only tools I used during post for this image were the Black and White and Levels tools, which allowed me to really fine tune some of the colors and bring out more of the contrast and texture inside the bricks and shadows. Also, I did crop the image down since the original image had a little too much on the top and the door didn't seem as close to the edge as it is now, so I was able to make this image more fitting for this assignment (and I kept the crop in a certain aspect ratio so the crop didn't seem very odd).

If I were change anything about this, I probably would've shot the image just a tad bit earlier in the day as that would've let me have better framing instead of the frame this image has now, and shooting earlier would've allowed me to gather more contrast between the black and whites, allowing for more texture and detail. Overall, I felt this image turned out very well and easily beat the rest of the images that I took for this assignment. I like these assignments that give us more of a challenge when it comes to our composition, so I look forward to the next one.

That First DnD Map...but Updated.

As much as I loved the first iteration of the map I made more than a week ago, there were some changes that needed to be made. Changes that helped keep the map alive and enjoyable.

Originally, my map only contained one battle, only one chance to earn some loot, and was filled with tons of boring ol' WALKING. I even considered my own map after the initial playtest as a walking simulator (patent pending) and most of the playtesters agreed with me. So, that's exactly the points I wanted to work on for this second iteration. I felt like I didn't need to change the actual design of the map since I felt that the flow was nice for a starter level and there weren't too many branching paths or blockades that would probably either confuse or infuriate players.

So, I decided to start from the beginning. Originally, I had nothing to really run into up until the first crossroad, so there wasn't really a point in going through and taking the time of taking turns to move in-between the start point and the two roads, so, I decided to add a battle before the crossroad as a way to introduce the players to combat sooner so they could have a better idea of how it works towards the second battle in the map towards the end. However, as the picture shows, there's a potential battle that could happen if the players decide to take Path A when choosing a way to go. I thought this could be a good idea since it added more of a challenge of gaining the items from the hut instead of it being a simple snatch and grab. Also, it allowed the players to gain a better understanding of how to use the items they gained during battle or after the battle. Along with this change, I also added a loot system that allowed the players to search the bodies of defeated enemies at a chance of finding some loot. Some enemies had loot, some enemies didn't. I added this so the players had more chances at gaining some items that could help them along their journey.

Now we come to the final part: the bridge. I didn't really anything new to this part as the playtesters very much enjoyed this part the first time they played through this map and they felt it didn't need any changes. However, in the story I placed a secret event that could happen if you chose an earlier choice correctly, and that earlier choice didn't seem like something that should've been in the story of the map (you have to play to figure out this secret, but I'm telling you, it's really hilarious). With the new loot system in place, this was another chance for players to earn some more loot for the rest of their journey and was also a good way of introducing the players to the jump mechanic. I didn't add fall damage for missing the jump because I felt like that was kinda cheesy and annoying for the players, and I didn't want them to stress about a lower HP, especially if they were on the verge of death. I also added more health and defense to this final encounter so there could be a feeling of tension and also accomplishment, especially since the end was so near.

The playtesters that I played this with were the same ones for the most part, and they felt that even these small changes really helped the map feel more enjoyable and they had a really good time playing through it (and they also got a huge laugh at the end). Overall, I still feel like there could be plenty of improvement regarding this map and if I do happen to go back to it, I'll have to consider possibly putting in a new area or some different combat scenarios, varying up the gameplay and making it much more enjoyable.

Thumbnail Assignment 1

My First Attempt at a Simple DnD Map

For our first proper project in our CAGD 270 class, we were given the task of making a map or series of maps to help teach players the simple mechanics and rules provided by the assignment. The rules weren't the same rules as actual DnD, but were instead dumbed down to be more simple and easy to learn, with some broken or unfinished parts put in. This is the map I created around the rules that were given:

I tried to make as simple of a map as possible to help teach mechanics, and I had a pretty beefy story to go along with it. The story for my map was set in the distant future involving robots, androids, cyborgs, and lots of futuristic technology. Since this was more of a tutorial level, I didn't want to incorporate too much combat since I didn't want this level to take too long and I didn't want the players to be too threatened or damaged from a simple tutorial level. However, this also was a mistake on my part.

Around this part of the map, I gave players an option within the story of choosing path A or path B, path A leading to a locked hut with some potions and health, and path B continuing down the main path. Just from how I set up the story, I already noticed that if they didn't choose path A for my playtest, we would've skipped a bigger portion of the story and they wouldn't have had the chance to get any health or swiftness potions, making it harder for players who continue along the main path as opposed to the players who choose to break off of the main path. However, thankfully in my playtest, the players chose to go down the main path. One huge thing that they really enjoyed about my map and kept them intrigued was the story I put into it. In my story, I gave the group many options that they could choose from at different parts in the story, and they really liked the idea of different pathways and choices to make to change the story around and to affect it down the road. In this part of the story, if they chose path A, they would come to a locked hut and they are given two times to search for a key. The first search gives them a shovel that gives them +1 attack for the next three attacks and the second search giving them the key, allowing them to grab one health and one swiftness potion, named Ener-G for the sake of my story.

I noticed something as they went along though, and they told me many times after the playtest: it kinda felt more like a walking simulator. They couldn't be any more right. Without the story that I had worked on for quite awhile for this map, both of the playtesters and myself believed that this map would be very enjoyable at all, and it would just feel tedious to get through. For my entire mapmaking process, I thought that combat would be a lot longer than it should be, so I only really incorporated one battle towards the end of the map, which was no short from easy. The battle probably took a maximum of only a few minutes, and after the fight, it didn't really feel too rewarding. It had the feeling of "Oh cool, we beat them, whatever." And most of my map did feel this way. Eventually they started to skip their turns for moving since there was nothing to encounter along the pathway, leading to the map being completed in a much quicker time than expected. However, what they thought was excellent was the storytelling and just how well it helped them learn how to do certain tasks and gameplay mechanics. In the above picture, I taught the players how to use their jump ability. You could either make it to the other side and be fine, or fall in the river and wash up ashore nearby. Both outcomes result in there being a battle afterwards, but the story I made made each of these battles seem like they were completely different, even though they were exactly the same.

What one of the playtesters loved so much about this part after they fell into the river was the fact that the story incorporated teamwork between the players despite where the other players were. In the story, if a player falls, they wash up on a bank nearby perfectly fine, but they get into a battle with two enemies. The story incorporates the other players by saying that "They raced back and jumped in to help out the other player," which then showed the beginning of the battle. They loved this example of the group working together to complete things and it made it more of a cooperative experience rather than an individual one.

Overall, they felt that with more combat, more team interaction in the story, and more choices and chances to get items, they felt like this could be quite a promising map, and I felt the exact same way.