Category: Game Design

Danny Designs: Gears 4 VS Mode and Loot Crates

2/6/2017

Welcome to another edition fo Danny Designs! I spoke about Gears of War 4's campagin in a previous post. Today I am going to be talking about the other half of the game, the multiplayer! This includes the versus mode (Social, Ranked and Competitve) and the Horde mode.

Versus

Gameplay

For many people unfamiliar with the Gears of war series, the changes made to gameplay may go unnoticed. For a veteran of the franchise the subtle changes to gameplay are a welcomed addition. The games runs smooth and the action is hard hitting and competitive. Landing a headshot or winning a shotgun duel in the midst of a chaotic battlefield is a feeling no other 3rd person shooter can replicate.

Changes you may not have noticed

Ballet of Violence

- You can now Active reload any time during the match. Including when your weapon is full. Including power weapons

- There is no sound/audio cute for when you are severely injured as in previous game.

- You can now do a running vault over cover and leap onto raised surfaces.

- You can only set one grenade at a time as a proximity bomb.

- Melee speed has been reduced.

- Pressing LB( Tac-Com) will now highlight your allies and any spotted enemies will be temporarily highlighted in red. Weapons on the map will also be displayed.

- A player with a raised chainsaw will not be stunned if shot, only stunned if they are shot when attempting to rev the chainsaw.

Yank and Shank

GET OVER HERE!

The new addition of the "Yank and Shank", a new mechanic where a player in cover can yank over a player from the other side, leavint them stunned for a brief second. While stunned they are open to a knife execution.

I was skeptical about, and even during the beta I wasn't sure how to feel about it. After spending hours in the multiplayer I can say that it was a great addition to the cover based combat. It adds an offensive mechanic to taking cover and pairs very well with the mantle kick.

Plunging a knife into an opponent is satisfying. The Yank is a well balanced mechanic, miss the landing and you're left exposed, but land that kill and earn the bragging rights.

The one thing I will say about the Yank is that timing the counter is very tricky. I've only counterd another player once! Another small thing to note is that to execute the knife execution involves approaching the stunned opponent and pressing the "Y" button.

For those of you not familiar with the Gears of War Series, "B" is the melee button, naturally I would press "B" and I would simply melee at the target, only to be blown away by a shotgun. I tried "X", because that is the interact button, the button to open doors, press switches and pick up ammo. That doesn't work. It took me a little while to realize that it was actually "Y". Why is that a strange choice? B is the default melee button, therefore in my mind it automatically meant "Knife", a knife is a melee weapon. Y has be the "point of interest" button.

Leagues and Game Modes

Versus mode is divided between Social, Co-OP vs Ai, Core and Competitive. Core and Competitive modes are broken into tiers from Bronze to Diamond. These tiers are meant to help match players with similar skill against one another. The downside of this is that it isn't made clear how players are placed into these tiers and at times you can be paired with players that are leagues below or above you in skill.

Social is a rolling playlist that rotates through modes and maps. Players are allowed to join and leave mid game without penalty,offering a relaxed environment.

Co-Op vs Ai sets a team of players against an all computer controlled team. Players can select the difficulty of the bots to set the challenge. This is a welcomed addition and a great way for new and returning players to become familiarized with Gears.

Core Matchmaking is where you can find the standards Gears of War modes. Team Deathmatch, King of The Hill, Warzone and Guardian. New to this playlist are Dodge ball (a fast paced mode where players can bring back dead team mates by eliminating opposing players) and Arms race (a game mode where both teams compete to see who can get three kills with 12 weapons).

Execution has been moved to the competitive playlist alongside Escalation, a new game mode that is being touted as the MLG game type. Escalation pits two teams against each other, trying to either earn 210 points or capture and hold all 3 rings to win a round. Win 7 rounds and the match is yours. Escalation lives up to it's competitive namesake and I do see a lot of high level players continuing to invest their time and energy into this competitive mode.

One thing I felt that was a little odd is the fact that Dodge ball, another mode touted as an MLG friendly mode is found inside the Core matchmaking playlist. Why isn't Dodge ball in the Competitive playlist? Why is Arms Race in the "Core" playlist? Arms Race doesn't come to mind when I think of the core modes of Gears.

Credits, Scrap and Packs

New to Gears of War is credits and scrap. Unlike the previous installment of Gears 3, players do not unlock additional characters and skins through completing objectives but by buying booster packs with credits. Inside these packs are cards, some will get you the aforementioned skins/characters whereas others will get you bonus XP and Horde skills. Any duplicate cards can be scrapped. Scrap is a currency that can then be used to craft desired cards.

Operations pack - 800 credits/$1.99. Personally, I miss the days of unlocking skins and characters through in game achievements and skill.

Credit payout for most game modes is too low, which in turn makes buying packs infrequent. This leads to less duplicate cards being obtained, less duplicate cards means players wont be creating scrap as often. Scrap payout is low, your average player is not unlocking content at a steady rate.

Most cards when scrapped yield an abysmal amount of scrap. A common card can get you five measly pieces of scrap. If you want to buy a common emblem, you're looking at forty pieces of scrap to craft!

If a player would like to craft a legendary character, they are looking at spending 2,400 pieces of scrap! That means they would have to scrap 480 common, 120 Rare, 16 ultra rare or 4 Legendary cards.

Opening a pack with four Epic cards.

With a few tweaks, this system would be fantastic! First thing we can do to improve this system is to increase the payout across the board. Increase the amount of scrap players receive from scrapping cards. The second thing would be award players free versus/horde packs for meeting in game goals. Leveled up? Free pack. Win 3 games in a day? Free pack. Earn an achievement? Free pack! Overwatch is very generous with how they hand out their loot crates, it keeps players invested, gives them a reason to play one more match.

Restructuring Card Packs

As of right now every standard booster pack comes with five cards. An operations pack has five random cards (bounties, skills, skins, characters,emblems). Two of those cards are guaranteed to be customization cards. Something I know that really annoys me is unlocking an emblem as one of my customization items. Emblems serve no real purpose and oftentimes it feels as if you're losing a slot that might have been a character or weapon skin.

What I would recommend is adjusting the card packs so that they would always guarantee one emblem and then the 5 cards.

Adding credit/scrap boosters as random rewards for packs would be a great reward for players. It would help keep players playing the game. And they don't have to be too common, one out of 10 packs can contain a booster card. I feel that players will find more value from packs this way.

Daily Login Packs

Gears of War 4 does feature a login bonus. Unfortunately it is a little bit underwhelming. When a player logs on they will be randomly awarded a bounty card or have a small chance to receive a weapon skin.

I would suggest a daily login pack, similar to Halo 5. A daily login pack that awards the player a random emblem and a bounty for versus and horde modes. After a week of consecutive logins, the player could receive a booster card or guaranteed weapon/character skin instead of an emblem.

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Email us at deepdigitaldesign@gmail.com
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- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

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Gears of War - Capture The Flag (REBLOG)

10/5/2016

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Originally posted on 8/24/2012

Capture the Flag? In Gears?

I have been wanting to talk about this topic for quite some time. I am an avid Gears of War player and a big fan of the franchise. You can safely assume I love Gears 3. I have spent hours playing and studying this game. In fact I love to look at the top downs for the mulitplayer levels and dissect them. As someone with a degree in level and game design I been itching to try my hand at designing levels and game modes for multiplayer.

As someone who visits the Gears forums on a regular basis one thread in particular caught my eye. It was a thread talking about adding a Capture the Flag (CTF) mode into Gears. I read this thread awhile back and I saw that my fellow Gears enthusiasts wanted a objective game mode that was familiar to them. Capture the flag is a very common game mode found in most popular First Person Shooters throughout time.

A CTF game in Halo 5.

If you're familiar with CTF you know that most games have certain mechanics and rules that are specifically for that mode. In the Halo series the player with the flag runs slower and can't use their primary weapon. Certain actions such as equipping a weapon will cause the player to drop the flag.

The player carrying the flag are often stripped of their weapons.

Gears 3 was the first time the community was introduced to Team Deathmatch (TDM), a very common mode found in almost every First Person Shooter. Why not introduce a CTF mode? After all Halo has one, Call of Duty has one. The question is "Would these mechanics work within Gears of War 3?" From the perspective of a designer and fan...not directly at least.

Maybe the flag carrier can only use the cleaver?

When played at a highly competitive level Gears can be surprisingly fast paced and acrobatic game. Skilled players often slide from cover to cover and wall-bounce to travel around the map quickly. If we add a mechanic where the player loses mobility it would affect the whole flow of the game.

In my opinion, we can't take away the player's mobility. We can't simply take the mechanics of Capture The Flag and apply them to Gears of War. That is just a boring design. We need to add the "Gears Twist".

Gears of War 2 - Submission

Now you might be saying that Gears 2 did in fact have a CTF mode called "Submission". It was what the developers called "CTF with a Gears twist".

In this game mode players attempted to capture an AI controlled "meat flag" and bring them to a designated zone in order to win the game. When the player is holding the meat flag their speed is decreased to a slow crawl and they can only use pistols.

A locust attempting to capture the "meat flag" in a game of submission.

Submission in my opinion was an underrated game mode. I loved it! I would play private matches with friends all the time. However, this isn't really a Capture the Flag mode now is it?

Gears of War 3 - Capture The Leader

An evolution of the Submission game type, Capture the Leader was introduced in Gears of War 3. In this game mode, one player is selected to be the leader of their team. Their team must defend the leader while also trying to capture the enemy leader.

Gears of War 3 implemented a Team Death match game type that remains popular to this da Gears TDM isn't the same as a TDM you would find in any popular shooter. It has the "Gears Twist" added to it. My point here is that if we were to force the traditional game mechanics of a CTF to Gears it wouldn't work. If we put too much of a Gears twist on the mode players might not identify it as the CTF they crave.

Loader Mech CTF

The mode I propose is a Capture the Objective game mode but with the use of the Loader Mech from the Gears 3 campaign. The game mode would be a capture the flag mode using the mech to pick up and return a crate (aka the flag) to the designated goal.

The loader mech.

My reasoning for this is simple. The loader is something the player is familiar with in terms of gameplay, controls and lore. It gives the player limited mobility but for a reason and context the player will instantly understand. The player in the mech will be a clear target and since the mech does not have any weapons the pilot would need to rely on their teammates for adequate protection.

The team with the Mech takes the offensive, trying to capture the crate and take it to the designated goal in order to win the round. The defending team will try to capture the mech, playing a very aggressive role of attempting to intercept the Mech.

The Flag aka The Crate.

The mech has no weapons unlike the Silver back Mech. The Loader Mech can only use melee attacks to defend itself. If the pilot attempts to use a melee attack while carrying the flag, they will drop the Flag. The Flag is a large crate which can be used as cover as long as the mech is not carrying it. The player piloting the mech would need team members to guard their rear flank and form a protective perimeter to ensure that the pilot is not simply shot out of the mech.

At the start of the match the LM would spawn in a ring in the center of the map similar to the red ring pictured.

List of Gears 3 Maps Best suited for CTF

- Academy
- Aftermath
- Anvil
- Artillery
- Azura
- Depths
- Trenches
- Rustlung

Loader Mech Capture The Flag - Rules

At the start of the match the Loader Mech would spawn in a ring in the center of the map. The match would begin with both teams making a push to try and capture the mech. Once a team has taken control of the mech, a timer counting down when the flag will appear on the map. Once the flag appears the mech pilot needs to retrieve it and take it to the designated capture zone aka the goal.

The basic rules of King of the Hill apply. If a mech pilot is hit with a smoke/ink grenade, they will be forced out of the mech temporarily. If the Flag has been dropped for thirty seconds, it will spawn at a new location and the goal will be reset.

CTF Playthrough

Here is a quick rundown of what a typical Loader CTF game would play.
Notes:
- COG (Blue Team) and The Locust (Red Ream).
- The Loader Mech is Yellow (neutral) until a team claims it.
- The Loader Mech icon is from the flim Aliens, because I couldn't find a good pic of the mech from Gears 3.
- The Flag is a large steel crate. The Flag can be used as cover as long as it is not being carried by the mech.

Phase 1 - Round one begins! Players spawn and the location of the mech is highlighted on the map. Both teams begin to head toward the mech.

Phase 2 - Players begin to make the push to capture the mech. Players meet at the center of the map aka the "Front" and begin to engage in a shootout.

Phase 3 - Blue team (Cog) is now in control of the mech. They must now hold the mech until the flag appears. During this time the COG team will have to defend the mech against the Locust.

Phase 4 - The location of the flag spawn appears on the map. Both teams have twenty seconds until the flag spawns in that location. Red team needs to prevent the Blue team from capturing the flag and attempt to take control of the mech. Blue team needs to play offense, keeping the attackers at bay and the Loader mech in their possession.

Phase 5 - Blue team pushes toward the flag as Red team scrambles to defend and possibly intercept the mech.

Phase 6 - Blue team now has control of the flag. After a short wait the location of the goal will appear. They will need to take the flag to this goal in order to win the round.

Phase 7 - The Blue team now make their way to the Flag capture point while holding off the Red team.

Phase 8 - Blue team is able to defend the mech until it makes the drop off and captures the flag to win round one.

Gears LMCTF

A mode like this will give the fans exactly what they want, a fast paced, dynamic mode that requires team work and coordination. This game mode brings all the excitement of a great CTF mode to Gears while adding that key "Gears Twist" that keeps people coming back.

I would love to hear what you think. Leave a comment or tweet at me. Thanks for reading!

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Email us at deepdigitaldesign@gmail.com
Follow us on Tumblr, IndieDB, Twitter, Mixcloud,Soundcloud,Twine, instagram and Youtube

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

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WARFRAME : SUM OF THEIR PARTS (Quest) and New Game Mechanic!

9/5/2016

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Forged In Flames

As an avid player of Warframe and a game designer I've had a lot of ideas for some new Warframes, weapons and game mechanics. In this post I want to talk about a new element to the game I've had rattling around in my head.

As someone who has put in a lot of hours into Warframe, I've run into a small issue that I am sure others players have also experienced. Sometimes you build a weapon, item, or Warframe and you realize that it didn't live up to your expectations or you simply no longer want it.

The Foundry aboard the player's landing craft.

For example, I wanted a new rifle so I did some research and thought that building a Boltor would be a wise investment. After leveling it up, I wasn't really happy with it's performance. I decided to use an Orokin Catalyst to double it's mod capacity ,effectively turning a max level 30 weapon into a level 60 weapon. After spending all these resources I was still unhappy with it's performance!

What am I supposed to do with a weapon I don't want? As of right now, you can't trade weapons with players, only their blueprints. My only option as of right now is to sell it. The only issue with selling this maxed out supercharged weapon is that the game will only let me sell it for a measly 7,500 credits! The catalyst I installed cost 35k just to build! There has to be a better way of getting rid of my unwanted inventory.

New Game Mechanic: Smelting

Smelting is a mechanic where players will select and item/weapon they no longer want to be converted back into the raw materials they once were. Mechanics such as this have existed in other MMOs for quite some time.

The Boltor costs 25k credits, 2 Neurodes (Rare), Alloy Plate 100 (common), Salvage 900 (common), 600 Polymer Bundle (Common) and the Boltor blueprint to build. The smelting process would result in the player receiving back a percentage of what they put in. For example, 1 Neurode, 25 Alloy Plates, 255 Salvage, and 110 Polymer bundle

The only thing they will not get back is credits and the blueprint, these two items will be lost during the smelting process. If a weapon was outfitted with an Orokin Catalyst, Orokin Reactor or Forma, there is a small chance that it will be returned to the player undamaged or for balancing purposes as raw components.

Quest: Sum of Their Parts

In order to obtain the smelter the player must embark on a quest to infiltrate a secret Corpus factory. With the help of master thief, Maroo. In order to take on this quest the player must be Mastery Rank 3 or higher and have already completed the Stolen Dreams Quest.

Maroo contacts the Tenno with an interesting proposition. She knows the whereabouts of a Corpus manufacturing plant hidden on Neptune. If you help her infiltrate it you can obtain a smelter that will allow you to melt ore and weapons into their base components.

The Tenno will follow Maroo into the depths of the secret Corpus factories and discover more then they bargained for. Secrets are revealed as the Tenno find themselves surrounded by menacing mechanical enemies. Can they pull themselves out from the clutches of the Corpus? Or will they find themselves turn to scrap?

Quest Prolouge

In order to begin the quest, players must go to the Quest tab in their codex station aboard the Liset. Once this quest has been set as their active quest the player will receive a video message from Maroo. In the message, Maroo will tell the player to visit her at the Bazaar located on Earth.

Speaking with Maroo at the Earth Relay.

Once you meet Maroo, she will explain that she wants a Corpus Smelter so that she may melt down rare materials such as Ore. Smelted materials are much easier to smuggle as they are untraceable. She explains that in order to obtain a Corpus Smelter (the best smelter in the galaxy) you will need to locate a secret Corpus manufacturing plant, break in and steal it. She promises you a blueprint to a miniaturized smelter that will fit aboard your landing craft and inside your dojo.

Maroo plans on sneaking in, but stealing the smelter will require the stealth technology of a Tenno landing craft in order to get in undetected, not to mention if things go south, she will need the help escaping. She does expect some resistance.

Missions

Mission 1: Locate The Coordinates (Spy - Neptune, Laomedeia - Level:20-25) - The Tenno and Maroo land on an Corpus outpost undetected. The player must use stealth to infiltrate their way through this mission. Once inside they must hack all three terminals in order to find the coordinates to the secret manufacturing plant. If the alarm is tripped, One Hyena Proxy robot(Level 20) will be sent after the player.

Mission 2: Track Down the Bursa (Neptune) - After the first mission is complete, Maroo will inform the player that the coordinates have been scrubbed from the records. However, there was some data pointing to a certain number of Bursas that have originated from an unknown facility. The player must track down these Bursas and try and find any data that can lead the player to their origins.

Enemy Bursa on the attack.

There isn't a set node for this mission. The player can play any mission on Neptune, as long as Bursa are capable of spawning during that mission. Only one bursa per node will yield data. The bursa must also be from Neptune, a bursa from any other planet will not provide the player with the coordinates they are searching for.

The player must hack three Bursas in total to help Maroo pinpoint their point of origin, i.e. the secret manufacturing plant. Once she has the coordinates, she will tell the player the next mission location.

Mission 3: Take Down The Defenses ( Deception - Neptune, Despina - Level: 20-28) - Maroo and the player head to this outpost. Maroo gives the player a Key that will hack the outpost's computer system, allowing them access into the main facility and reach the smelter.

Cinematic: The hack begins to go through, until it suddenly stops and a familiar face pops ups on screen, Alad V. He says he saw this hack coming and laid a trap. The facility suddenly begins to depressurize. Alad V taunts the player and the screen turns off. Hordes of Corpus machines begin to pour into the halls, Maroo and the player take action, they burst out of the room and get ready to fight.

Mission 3A: Survival (15 mins) - Lotus will help the player find life support capsules. There will only be corpus machines spawned in during this mission (Moas, Drones etc). The player will have to survive long enough for Maroo and Lotus to secure an extraction point.

Aboard the player's ship: After escaping the factory, Maroo tells the player that she was able to trace the incoming message from Alad V. His location seems to match another set of coordinates found in the data from the hacked Bursas. She then sends the coordinates to the Lotus and tell the player to be ready to silently infiltrate this facility.

Mission 4: Infiltrate the Hidden Facility ( Mobile Defense - Neptune, Nereid - Level: 25-30) - The player will need to move completely undetected to one of the computer terminals. Maroo will hack the second terminal and will sync up the hack so they will be undetected.

Note: If they player is spotted, they must kill the enemy that spotted them immediately or else the mission will fail.

It will take 3 minutes for the hack to go through. The player will have to stealthily eliminate any Corpus units that get too close to the terminal. They can do this with a silenced weapon or by a stealth take down.

With the terminals hacked, Maroo will ask the player to meet her inside one of the vents overlooking an assembly line. The player must make their way to her, once again avoiding detection. Once they reach her a cinematic will start.

Cinematic: Maroo and the player look down on the factory floor. They see Alad V and his corpus advisers overlooking the production of new machines. The player spots a heap of damaged Warframes being dissembled and smelted down. Lotus tells the player that this must be where Alad V studies the Tenno for his work on the Zanuka project. Maroo reminds the Tenno that they must retrieve the smelter. The Tenno will then decide to deviate from the mission and attack Alad V. During the attack, Alad V will flee, leaving Maroo and the player surrounded.

Mission 4A: Rescue the Captive Tenno (Rescue mission) - While dealing with the Corpus forces, Maroo sends Lotus information on the layout of the facility. Lotus confirms that there appear to be a holding cells with prisoners. Against Maroo's wishes the player will travel to the holding cells and attempt to free the captive Tenno. Maroo, frustrated goes off on her own as the Tenno rush to the rescue.

Rescuing the captive Tenno.

Note: Depending on how many players are in the mission, they might have to free 2-4 captive Tenno.

The player must escort the freed Tenno to the extraction point. Upon arriving at the extraction point, the captive Tenno will be board the player's landing craft. Suddenly, the extraction point is ambushed by a Zanuka Hunter.

Mission 4B: Eliminate the Zanuka Hunter (Exterminate) - The player must now escape the extraction point. They must eliminate all of the remaining enemies in the facility and the Zanuka Hunter. While the player is battling through the facility, Alad V taunts the player, he boasts that his Zanuka Hunter is the latest prototype, made from the parts of fallen Warframes. The Zanuka Hunter is unlike any the player has encountered before. it has a pair of shield Ospreys following it at all times that must be destroyed before it can have it's shield/health damaged.

With all of the enemies destroyed, Alad V will curse the Tenno for destroying his latest creation. Alad V flees as Lotus reveals the next extraction point for the player. Once the player boards their landing craft they will notice that Zanuka dropped a block of ore. A random block of ore will be added to the player's inventory.

Mission 5: Escort The Smelter (Hijack - Neptune, Nereid - Level:25-30) - Upon arriving back on there landing craft, the player will receive and incoming video message from Maroo. Maroo will urge the player to return to the facility immediately, as she has found the smelter and loaded it up onto a Corpus cargo rover. She Just needs the Tenno's help to get the transport off planet. She urges the player to help her retrieve the cargo. Lotus then advises the player to help Maroo. She reminds the player that the smelter can help the Tenno in their cause.

The mission plays like a standard Hijack mission, except Maroo will join the player in defending the rover and there will be Bursa helping the Corpus. Once the rover reaches the extraction point the players will see a cinematic where Maroo thanks the players for their assistance. Shortly after she will send the Tenno a blueprint for the Smelter Foundry Upgrade Segment in their inbox.

A New Economy

With the introduction of the smelter I felt it would be an interesting idea to introduce a new type of resource. Ore. This resource would be a very rare resource that on it's own can't be used to craft anything, but it can be smelted down to usable raw components.

The resources needed to craft the smelter segment.

For example, a block of Oxium Ore when smelted down can give the player anywhere between 200-400 pieces of Oxium. Oxium is a very rare component, and is usually only dropped in low single to double digit quantities. This would make the raw block of ore very valuable.

Ore would be a reward for high level invasion missions, Events, Alerts and sorties. Ore can be traded from player to player for mods, blueprints or platinum. The price of Ore increases and fluctuates in value. Players would be able to cash in their ore at relays. The value of ore fluctuates day to day. Players may trade ore among NPCs from different factions or syndicates for varying amounts. Friendly syndicates will grant players standing and credits for ore.

Not all types of Ore will give the player hundreds of raw components. Argon ore for example might give the player anywhere from 2-4 argon crystals. Argon Ore form does not deplete unlike argon crystals.

These raw blocks of ore require 25k credits to smelt and it will take 8 hours for the ore to be turned into raw materials. The player can pay 10 platinum to rush the smelting process, but there is no guarantee that there will be an increase in the amount of resources awarded.

Proven in Combat

That is my idea for the smelting game mechanic and the quest players would have to embark on to get access to it. As a seasoned player of Warframe, I feel that the smelter would encourage players to build more and Ore would bolster trade.

If you play Warframe I would love to hear your thoughts on the the smelting mechanic/quest. Leave a comment here on my blog or tweet me. Thanks for reading!

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Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Email us at deepdigitaldesign@gmail.com
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- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

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Pokemon Go: Safari Zone Event! by Dannylv100

8/1/2016

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Note: I do not work for Niantic or Nintendo. This is just a blog post talking about how I would handle designing an event in Pokemon Go.

Would You Like to Join the Hunt?

Pokemon Go is the biggest thing since Pokemon. It is crazy to see hordes of people walking around from Pokestop to Pokestop in search of the lovable monsters.

Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go is the biggest thing since Pokemon. It is crazy to see hordes of people walking around from Pokestop to Pokestop in search of the lovable monsters.

Augmented Reality Games have always interested, but there hasn't be an Augmented Reality game that has not only had a player base this big, but been this close to my core as a gamer. When I was walking around the park one night with some friends, I saw a grown man proclaim to all the strangers around him that he had found a Pinsir. My friends checked their phones frantically, but there was no Pinsir in sight.

Here we all are, at a public park walking around looking for a Pinsir. I thought to myself, "Why don't we just visit the Safari Zone?" And it hit me, With a game like this we can do just that, we can have an alternate reality event where players visit the Safari Zone!

What is the Safari Zone?

The Safari Zone in the Pokemon games is sort of like a Pokemon Nature preserve. Players pay a small fee so they may enter this preserve and attempt to catch the Pokemon inside. The safari zone is home to many rare pokemon that are not found anywhere else.

Upon entering, players are given Safari balls and a time limit. They are allowed to catch as many pokemon they can before the time runs out or before they run out of Pokeballs.

Event Rules (In the real world)

One weekend every month, large public spaces (Parks, Zoos, Theme Parks etc) will become Safari Zones. In order for a player to have access to the Pokemon in the Safari Zone, they will have to have a ticket. Without the ticket, players will encounter the usual Pokemon at that location. With their ticket the activated, Pokemon from the Gen 1 Kanto Safari Zone will be lured to the player as they travel through the designated Zone.

How can a player obtain a ticket?

A mock up of what the tickets may look like.

Players will be able to obtain a ticket in a few ways. Tickets will be rare drops from Pokestops as well as available in the shop. 200 coins per ticket.

Before you say that 200 coins is too much, the ticket does grant the player access to rare Pokemon, 30 safari balls, 5 Razz Berries, as well as possible bonus items when using a Pokestop.

Note: The Safari balls and razzberries will be given to the player once the ticket is activated. The ticket can only be activated during the special event weekend.

Any unused tickets will still be valid for the following month's event. Tickets never expire and can be gifted to your friends and family.

What Pokemon are in the Zone?

The player will encounter a variety of Pokemon in the safari zone. The most sought after being the rare Pokemon (Dratini, Pinsir, Chansey etc).

What would make an ideal Safari Zone?

A while back I visited the San Francisco Zoo, it was one of the first places I thought would be ideal for a real life Safari Zoo. It is broken up into zones that replicate the habitats of the various animals from around the world.

If a player is looking for a rare bug Pokemon such as Pinsir, they need to explore the Insect Zoo in the exploration zone. If they are looking for a Kangaskhan, it would be an obvious choice to check our the Kangaroos at the Australian Walkabout.

The Zoo has already done the work of building the enclosures and landmarks that will become Pokestops. All we have to do is add the Pokemon. I also think this design would encourage people to visit the Zoo and gain an appreciation for the real life animals Pokemon are often based off.

If you're thinking "This is a bad idea!" and "Zoos wouldn't like these kinds of events!", check out the Pokemon Go week at the Los Angeles Zoo. Businesses and locations are welcoming these kinds of events! More people visiting means more sales. Tickets, refreshments and merchandise. I wouldn't be surprised if The Zoo started selling Pokemon branded merchandise alongside their own.

Event Exclusive Pokemon

#132 - Blobby Hill.

Certain Pokemon could be made event exclusive. A pokemon such as ditto could be classified as Ultra Rare and the only way to find him it so go to your local Safari Zone Event.

These pokemon can be rotated out and updated as the game is updated. For example, one month the exclusive Pokemon is ditto, and the next it could be a Farfetc'd or Mr. Mime.

Collect Event Stickers For Rewards!

For attending the Safari Zone weekend events, players can be awarded with exclusive badges, stickers and medals.

It may also be an interesting idea for rewarding players for participating. For example, if a player were to get a single sticker, they may get 5 free pokeballs. If they collect 5 stickers they may receive 30 pokeballs for free!

If the player were to get 10 stickers, they may be awarded the Safari Medal and 30 safari and Pokeballs.

Players that manage to capture a Gym during one of the event weekend may be awarded a special "Warden of The Safari Zone" medal.

Safari Zone Sticker.

Did You Get A Good Haul?

The Safari Zone event is a fun way to strengthen an already strong community. It is also a preview of how we can bring ideas and events from the games into the real world. The Safari Zone isn't the only idea from the original Pokemon games that would be possible.

What do you think? Do you think an ongoing monthly event has some potential? Do you think it still needs some work? Whatever your opinion is, feel free to leave a comment or tweet me directly. Thanks for reading!

Need more Battery?

Is your phone constantly dying while catching Pokemon? Why not get yourself a portable phone charger? Easy to store and they will recharge your phone on the go. Any of the options below would make an excellent choice. Pick one up here and help support the site!

Portable Chargers: Jackery Mini Premium, Anker Portable Charger, Astro Candy Bar Sized Charger

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Email us at deepdigitaldesign@gmail.com
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- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

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Halo 5: FireFight - Thoughts and Impressions

7/9/2016

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Halo 5 has released a big update! A new mode called Firefight! Firefight pits a squad of eight players against five waves of enemies of increasing difficulty. Overall, I love this mode. However, I do feel like there are some issues that hold me back from truly loving this game mode. Here are my thoughts and impressions!

Note: This isn't an "angry rant". I enjoy this game, but I feel like a few improvements would make this game mode excellent. Blindly yelling "This sucks" is never helpful. That is why as a game designer I offer my input on what I would do to improve the overall experience for all players.

Good - Gold Rewards

In the past I've said that the fact that Halo 5 doesn't hand out REQ packs freely was something that bothered me. I know they want players to buy them with real money, but nothing makes me want to play more then feeling like I am being rewarded for my time.

The Firefight update rewards players a free pack just for logging into the game, one free pack a day. Firefight also showers a victorious team with Gold REQ Packs. That's right, GOLD, the best packs in the game. I was so happy, the first few games I played were just awesome, my team and I rolled through a couple rounds and I was earning gold/silver pack after gold pack.

A game of Firefight can average around 20-25 mins, earning a gold pack or two feels like the right way to reward a player for dedicating the time. It also encourages them to play another round, it keeps them coming back day after day.

Mixed - Not Enough Ammo

Basically, you are always low on ammo. When you start the game you have half of the maximum amount of ammo you are allowed to carry. For example, you will have 12 in the magazine of your Magnum, and 24 in reserve. What is the issue? Well you are constantly dealing with boss enemies that require a lot of ammo, and they always bring hordes of enemies to defend them.

So you might say "Well use your REQ cards!", well that can help, but I still feel under equipped. Most boss enemies seem to shrug off rockets. Even an enemy Banshee can withstand multiple rockets before going down. You might use an entire rocket launcher REQ card to take down a single banshee.

Suggested Fix: I would suggest that we increase the amount of ammo players can carry in reserve. For example, instead of a battle rifle carrying 108 bullets max, we give the player 324, three times the amount the player carries now.

I would suggest that we add more ammo terminals, they don't need to be fully fledged REQ stations, but ammo drops and resupply capsules around the map that would provide the player with ammo for their loadout weapons and grenades. I would also slightly increase the amount of ammo the REQ cards come with (just for this mode).

Bad - Stop the Clock!

This is a bit of a pet peeve, but I hate when the clock starts counting down and the boss hasn't even arrived yet. I hate that the armory is being overrun by Prometheans, and we're across the map.

This might sound like a pet peeve, but why in a game where we have limited time would you start the clock when the boss we are supposed to defeat hasn't even arrived yet? This is especially bad in the early rounds when you are expected to defend the objective, but the Armory/Power Core is across the map! By the time you get there, it is full of enemies.

Suggested Fix: I propose that we do not start a defense objective until one of the eight players has arrives to the destination.Don't start counting down the round until the boss is on the map.

Bad - No Time Bonus?

I understand why it isn't in the game, but it seems a bit strange. So, when you complete a round quickly, you don't get any bonus time added to the next round. If you defeat one Mythic boss, you don't get any bonus time added to the clock. This is especially frustrating when by round 2 the respawn timer is increased, only punishing the player for a death.

This is incredibly frustrating. On a few occasion we have to take out three Mythic level bosses only to fail with the last boss having a sliver of health. Thing is, two mythic bosses is bad enough, but three?! And sometimes that is after having to defeat four legendary bosses before that!

Suggested Fix: Giving the players a few seconds on the clock for successfully defeating a boss is something I would like to see added to the game. Rewarding the player with small time bonuses for performing feats of skill would also be a great idea. For example getting numerous headshots, carrying a combo or killing multiple enemies with a single grenade etc.

We can work the time bonus into the game in a couple of ways. For example, any bonus time earned will be added to the fifth and final round. If players complete a round quickly, add 20 seconds to the clock at the final round. If no one dies in a round, add 30 seconds. There are a lot of ways to handle this. The final round can start at 5 mins and all the bonus time can get the round to be 6 mins or longer depending on how well the team plays. This would also allow players that aren't as skilled (or lacking REQ packs) to still contribute to the team.

Mixed - Slot Machine

I've had numerous games where the first or second round was a Defend the Armory or take out Banshee Raiders. Depending on where the defense point is, this can be a huge pain. It is extremely difficult to defend the armory or eliminate targets when you have access to none of your powerful weapons (REQ cards) etc.

The overall flow of the objectives feels random. I've had missions with numerous challenging objectives leading to an unwinnable finale. You might think I am just nitpicking, but I am not. There is such as thing as pacing. Mass Effect 3's multiplayer did a good job of breaking up the flow of objectives and combat. They never made the player complete three defense missions in a row.

On the flip side, I've also had a few games that were complete cake walks in comparison. Easy objectives in a row with a single final boss that is easily defeated.

Suggested Fix: We establish a pace and flow for each map. We let the player know what objectives to expect each round on certain maps. For example on the map March on Stormbreak the first round will always be an "Eliminate X amount of Y enemy" mission. With round 2 being "Eliminate a boss enemy" and the third round guaranteed to be a defense mission. It is important for the players to know ahead of time so they can prepare themselves and organize before the mission starts.

This should also allow the game to know what objectives to give the players. If they player has already done one type of mission it should assign another type instead, to keep the flow feeling right.

Mixed - Prometheans

Promethean Soldier.

I never liked Prometheans as an enemy. They are bullet sponges that teleport. Even the standard Promethean Soldier can soak up an entire magazine from a Battle Rifle before going down.

This is only amplified when the game just sends hordes of Knights/Soldiers after you all while you don't have any ammo because the game doesn't spawn you fully equipped.

Suggested Fix: If the game insists on just dumping prometheans on the players, they can scale their health so they don't feel like bullet sponges. The covenant enemies seem to scale accordingly. They only become really difficult in round 4 and 5. They are manageable in the early rounds. Prometheans always feel like a chore.

Mixed - Maps

Urban - Great Firefight Map.

Some of the maps work better for Firefight then others.Some maps are too big and other maps feel perfect for this mode. A map such as Raid on Apex 7 can be a nightmare, whereas a map such as Urban is just perfect.

Nit pick - Firefight W/L

It annoys me that Firefight is tied to my Warzone's win/loss ratio. After playing Firefight, I saw a large decrease in my W/L ratio, and it bugged me. This isn't a huge issue, I just don't understand why it wouldn't have it's own separate category.

Good - When it all comes together

When you're playing with a focused squad or a group of friends. When the game sets challenging but fair objectives, Firefight is amazing.

Those are my thoughts on what I believe would help improve Halo 5's Firefight mode. Currently one of my favorite modes in Halo. I would love to see some of my suggestions implemented. I also believe Firefight can have a strong thriving community with continual updates. New objectives and enemies, I would love to see Brutes added to Firefight!

If you agree/disagree, feel free to leave a comment or message me on twitter. What changes would you like to see made to Firefight? Thanks for reading!

Do you have questions, comments or concerns? Email us at deepdigitaldesign@gmail.com
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- Danny Q
@Dannylv100

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Capture the Flag? In Gears?

​Gears of War 2 - Submission

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Loader Mech Capture The Flag - Rules

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Pokemon Go: Safari Zone Event! by Dannylv100

Would You Like to Join the Hunt?

What is the Safari Zone?

Event Rules (In the real world)

How can a player obtain a ticket?

What Pokemon are in the Zone?

​What would make an ideal Safari Zone?

Event Exclusive Pokemon

Collect Event Stickers For Rewards!

​Did You Get A Good Haul?

Need more Battery?

Halo 5: FireFight - Thoughts and Impressions

​Good - Gold Rewards

Mixed - Not Enough Ammo

Bad - Stop the Clock!

​Bad - No Time Bonus?

Mixed - Slot Machine

Mixed - Prometheans

​Mixed - Maps

Nit pick - Firefight W/L

​Good - When it all comes together

Dannylv100

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List of Gears 3 Maps Best suited for CTF

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Good - Gold Rewards

Bad - No Time Bonus?

Mixed - Maps

Good - When it all comes together