dannylv100.com
  • Projects
    • A Game In the Dark
    • Flat Kingdom
    • Aero
    • 3rd Person Shooter
    • Forge Editor - Halo 5
    • Doom (2016) Design Test
  • Blog
  • Resume

Danny Designs: Gears 4 VS Mode and Loot Crates

2/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
  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

PictureBallet 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

Picture
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.
​
Picture
   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.
Picture
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. 


  
Picture
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.
Picture
  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. 
Picture
  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
Follow us on Tumblr, IndieDB, Twitter, Mixcloud,Soundcloud,Twine, instagram and Youtube

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100​​
​
0 Comments

Pokemon Go: Safari Zone Event! by Dannylv100

8/1/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
​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.
Picture
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?

Picture
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

Picture
#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. 
Picture
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
Follow us on Tumblr, IndieDB, Twitter, Mixcloud,Soundcloud,Twine, instagram and Youtube

​- Danny Q
@Dannylv100
​
1 Comment

Halo 5: FireFight - Thoughts and Impressions

7/9/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
​   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. ​ 
Picture
​  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!
Picture
​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

Picture
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

Picture
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
Follow us on Tumblr, IndieDB, Twitter, Mixcloud,Soundcloud,Twine, instagram and Youtube

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100
​

0 Comments

How To Make Warzone More Accessible

1/29/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

More Accessibility ​

   Warzone is one of my favorite modes in Halo 5. It is the kind of game mode I always wanted. Taking on a large team of enemies and Ai combatants. When it all comes together, it is just awesome!

  Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck converting my friends to Warzone enthusiasts. Warzone can be a very frustrating and crushingly difficult mode for newcomers. The size of the map, the high player count, the Ai bosses that can kill you in an instant. The sheer chaos of the entire experience can be extremely overwhelming to a new player.

   As a veteran of over two hundred Warzone matches and after analyzing common complaints from my friends, I have come up with a few game design solutions that in my opinion would improve this game mode. 

Improved Killcam

​  Warzone is a huge game mode featuring a gigantic map and twenty four players and Ai enemies that attack either team. One issue I encountered with this set up is, well this mode can become chaotic very quickly. Players will oftentimes find themselves caught in the crossfire on a regular basis.
Picture
​    I know, some of you out there might be saying "But Danny, it is supposed to emulate the chaos of war!" True. The issue here is that this combination of giant maps and high player count can lead to a quick and confusing death. A death with little or no information to how or why you died. 
​
   Oftentimes, I find myself dying and having no clue where the shots came from.  When I die, the camera might point in the general direction of where my attacker was but Often times it might just float around in no particular direction.
Picture
An example of the unhelpful Halo 5 kill cam. Notice how it points straight to the ground.
Picture
The Battlefield 4 kill cam gives the player useful information.
​   How do we mitigate this issue? We add a kill cam. And to be very specific, we add one that functions identical to the one from the Battlefield series (pictured above).  

Pros of adding a Kill Cam similar to Battlefield 4

​- Will show you where the shots came from and how much health/shield the enemy had remaining.
- What kind of weapon/vehicle, booster the enemy was using. 
- Will highlight a players position. If any player is using an exploit, they will be exposed.
- Help lower a player's frustration level and allow them to avoid making the same mistake twice. 

Add A Map 

   When playing with some of my friends, I had a hard time explaining the map layout to them, especially in the middle of the game. At the bottom left of the HUD is text that tells you where on the map you are located. This can help players identify their current location, but with no map to reference it is kind of pointless to a new player. 
​In Gears of War 3, before every multiplayer game the player are shown a top down view of the map. On the map, all of the landmarks are clearly labeled. 

  Whenever the player dies, they have the option to look at the map. During the match the player can easily access it and depending on the game mode it will even display objectives, weapon locations and etc. 
Picture
The map from Gears of War 3.
Picture
Give the player the option to look at the map during this intro before the game begins.
​Warzone begins with a short video that introduces us to the map. This intro video is unskippable, so why not allow the player to hit a button and view a map that will tell inform them of bases and key landmarks?

   However this shouldn't be the only time the map is accessible. During gameplay and in between spawns, players should be able to press a button that will quickly display the map with everything clearly visible. 
​  The ideal Warzone map would display all of the main bases, the location of enemy bosses once they have spawned into the map, the health and status of each team's respective core and who controls each base. 
​   The map could also possibly display where your allies are on the map as well as enemies, well this would have to be tested out as displaying the position of enemies on the map might be a game breaker.Perhaps the map will temporarily display enemies that have been spotted by your allies or enemies that are currently engaging a boss. 

Semi Related - Possible  Announcer Bug

​   This is an issue I noticed while playing. Sometimes when I am killed and spawn back into the map I will miss the in game announcer declaring that an enemy boss has appeared on the map. With the map, the player would  would simply check the map during gameplay and the player would know when and where an enemy boss has spawned on the map. 

  I would also like to say that this is a bug that I have personally encountered on a numerous occasions, and it is most likely a obscure glitch. As mentioned before, adding a map with the whereabouts of enemy bosses would mitigate this issue entirely. 

Adjust Victory Point Distribution

 One of the most crucial things in warzone is earning Victory Points (VP) by eliminating enemy bosses. Each boss is worth a hefty sum of points. Eliminating these bosses can help the player's team get a strong lead or close the gap.

​   One of the issues I have with the bosses in Warzone is how points are distributed. On several occasions my team and I have lost the game because the other team stole the kill.   
Picture
From Left to Right: Legendary Boss (150 VP), Normal Boss (50 VP) and Enemy Player (1 VP).
​   To clarify, the way the points are distributed is not dependent on how much damage was done by either team, but simply by whomever lands the final hit.

   Nothing is more frustrating then making a huge comeback only to have the other team pull ahead with a massive lead after they land the final hit on one of the final boss that you and your team were in the process of eliminating.

​   I have experienced on a few occasions the enemy team stealing the boss points just get a huge lead in points, which at this point means we lost and there is no more coming back.

​   This is especially frustrating when the final boss has already spawned and been taken out. The only way to win at this point is to capture all three bases and destroy the enemy core. The chances of this happening is extremely low. I have never been on a team that has at this point captured all three bases and destroyed the enemy core to win. 

Damage Perentage System

​   My suggestion to fix this issue is to change how points are distributed. This is what I suggest, if the Blue team lands majority damage, they would earn majority points. If a boss is worth 150 VP, and Blue team deals 75% of damage they would receive 112 points, where as the Red Team dealt only 25% of damage would only receive 38 points.
​   If 100% of points is 150, then half of that is 75. If both teams did equal damage to the boss, they should receive equal points. As the system currently stands, it leaves a bit of room for chance. In my opinion we should reward teams and players that use team work to coordinate an assault on a boss, not reward players that sit back and take potshots. 

Back to Battle

​   These are my suggestion on how to make Warzone more accessible to new players and to the players that stick solely to the arena section of Halo 5's multiplayer.

   Warzone is one of my favorite game modes and I do feel that these suggestions would improve Warzone overall and make it more accessible to more players. If you are someone who is currently playing Halo 5 and has not tried Warzone, you should definitely give it a chance. I mean, what else are you going to do with all those Req cards? 

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

 - Danny Q
@Dannylv100​​
​
0 Comments

Redesigning Requisition Cards -  UI Design (Halo 5)

11/27/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture

NOTE: I do not work at 343. I do not claim to work for this game studio, this blog post is just me talking about my thoughts on design and UI.

  After hours and hours of hard fought matches on the Warzone and in the Arena, I finally got my highly sought after DMR card. Now, if you are not a fan of Halo, the DMR or Designated Marksman Rifle is an excellent semi automatic rifle that hammers down covenant and online opponents like no other.
​
Picture
​  I hopped into Warzone mode ready to unleash the fury that is a virtual bullet, only to discover that the DMR is a level 8 Requisition. If you are not familiar with Halo 5's Warzone mode, that meant I would have to put in a lot of work per game to even get to use that card, or that it wouldn't become available until late in the game, you know like in the final 4-5 mins before warzone is over. ​

​   This isn't a post to complain or whine, it is to talk about something I didn't realize until I got this coveted unlock. I am here to talk about the UI and layout of the Requisition cards. I have a few suggestions that might spruce things up a bit, and make the cards more informative.

  To the left, you will see what the DMR card looks like. Overall, there is no indication that it is intended for the Warzone mode, but even more blatant is the fact that you can't even tell what level the card is. You don't know until you are in the game. 
​  I also want to mention the layout of the weapon requisition screen in warzone. I have a few suggestions that I think, in my opinion, might just make this system a bit more intuitive. 

Weapon Select (Req Station) UI

​ When you start up a game of Warzone you will find yourself at the requisitions window. From here you can select which weapons, vehicles, armor mods etc you would like to spawn with. All weapon, vehicle and power up cards are one time use, and go away if you are eliminated in battle, or when the game ends.

   The issue I have with this, is when you go to one of these tabs, all the weapons are lumped together. They do become highlighted once the required requisition level is achieved, but in my opinion, it would be better if we had the weapons catergorized in rows based off of their level.  
Picture
Current Layout in Halo 5.
​ To the left, you will see what the weapons tab currently looks like. All the weapons are on screen with the currently available weapons be highlighted.

 The issues that I have here is that we do not know what level any of these weapons are. We can assume that all of these weapons are level 3 or less.
​  In the layout I came up with, we have weapons organized in a row. Level two and three are currently highlighted because as we can see in the top left, we have access to level 3 items.

​   You can also clearly see that the level 4 items are inaccessible as the Level 4 box is empty. With this setup you can see immediately what weapons are available to you and what their cost is. 
Picture
My Version of the layout.

Requisition Card Layout

​Weapon Cards

​  Majority of weapon cards you unlock in these booster packs are "power weapons", weapons that can not be equipped as your default loadout. Weapons such as the rocket launcher can be equipped once you achieve the appropriate level and if you are willing to spend a rocket launcher card. You can not spawn with the rocket launcher if you do not have any cards to spend.

​    Weapons such as the Assault Rifle, Magnum, Battle Rifle, SMG and DMR are loadout weapons. The player just need to unlock the card to make them available as part of their loadout, however some of these cards still need to be unlocked by reaching he appropriate level. The default SMG is a level 4, after that level is achieved the player can spawn into the game with the SMG equipped at no loss of cards or points.  
   Here we have a variant of the standard SMG. This variant has a suppressor attachment and unlike the default SMG is a level 5 weapon. The only issue is, you wouldn't know this until you hop into a game.

   The changes I made add a clear level in the top left corner. I also added some text at the bottom, informing the player that it is a variant loadout weapon and at the bottom of the card I made sure to make it very clear that this card is intended for the warzone game mode.
   Now, I know some might say that adding the "Warzone" text at the bottom of the card might be pointless, but while playing in the arena, I occasionally overheard people opening up booster packs and some of these people have said things such as "What do I do with this weapon/vehicle?" and "What are half of these cards for?".

    It made me realize that some players that predominately play Arena have possibly never played Warzone as they had no idea what some of these cards were intended for. And I am honestly not surprised, as players that only player in the Arena, only a few cards would be used by them (Assassination animations, Armor/Helmets, Weapon Skins, Req Points, XP/RP boosters). I was still honestly surprised, Warzone was a mode that I had been anticipating for quite some time.  

​Vehicle Cards

   Just like the weapon card, vehicle cards suffer from the same issues. To the left you see the card as it currently is in game. The only information give to you is that is is an uncommon card and it is called "Wraith". The card currently in the game doesn't do much in terms of conveying information to the player and that is where the current design falters in my opinion.
Picture
Left: Current Weapon Card. Right: Card with my changes.
   With my update we once again see that this card requires the player to reach level 5, it is a single use card and it is for the Warzone game mode. 

Requisitions

​  To summarize my thoughts, I would just like these cards to convey more information (level, use, type, game mode). I also believe the benefit of letting players know what game mode these cards are intended for might get more players to try Warzone, which is one of my favorite game types in recent memory.

   To hear more about my thoughts on Halo 5, check out Divercast Ep. 20 (coming soon) and be sure to follow me on twitter, as I plan on streaming the creation of a custom map once Forge mode is made available. Thanks so much for your support and I hope you enjoyed this article.

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

- Danny Q
@Dannylv100
​

0 Comments

    Dannylv100

    Picture

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Picture
    Dannylv100 on Twitch.

    Categories

    All
    Art School Stories
    Blog Post
    Danny Designs
    Freeze-E Frosty's
    Game Design
    Game Design Doc
    Gears Of War
    Halo 5
    Level Design
    Mobile
    Pokemon
    Support
    Thoughts
    Warframe

    Monthly Blog Archive

    E3 Survival Guide
    ​Gears 4 - COG Hammerburst ​
    Knights vs Ninjas (Part 1)
    Halo 5: Warzone Accessibility 
    Halo 5: REQ Card Redesign
    ​
    New The Last of Us Enemy
    GDC 2014 Video Roundup
    ​Mass Effect 3: Tracker Class
    Mass Effect 3: DLC classes 
    ​Frosty's: Lost Levels
    ​
    Frosty's: Soundtrack
    ​Importing to UDK from Max
    ​Basic Checkpoints (UDK)
    ​
    Physics vs Scripted Events

    Archives

    October 2019
    August 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    April 2014
    February 2014
    July 2013
    October 2012
    September 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.