The student conducted research on 2D platform games like Super Mario Bros to inform their final game project. They focused on simple but effective designs. For their game, the student chose a space theme and designed simple block characters to focus on movement. Feedback indicates the game could be improved with a more complex character design, smoother animation, and additional time spent on sound effects. Overall, the student is happy with how their final project turned out but recognizes areas that could be strengthened with more time.

1. Evaluation
Grace Gilbert

2. Research I think my research was successful. On every game I
designed I set it out with a few pictures and had arrows
discussing different parts of the game. The games I looked
at were relevant to what I wanted to create as I was looking
at 2D platform type of games for example Super Mario bros
was one I looked at and I think this really helped with my
final product because I could see that the designs were
simple but they were effective and this is something I
wanted to do when creating my game.
When experimenting I chose to do something really simple
by just using blocks as characters instead of designing the
character and this was because I wanted to focus on how
the alien would move and use the space rather than what it
looked like and I think this helped with the final product
because when making it I knew how far to make the alien
jump or how many places it needs to move without it being
too quick.
Some of the weaknesses would be that I only focused on
one type of game which is a platform style game and this is
a weakness because I didn't have any other ideas apart
from this one and it would have been interesting to
incorporate a different view for example a first person view
would have been interesting and I think if I was to look
more at that type of game I would have tried to incorporate
that into my final product

3. I think the most influential part of the research was
when I looked at a game called ‘Avenger bird’ as this is
ideal to what I wanted to create but a space theme.
The style of the game was something that really stood
out to me because it was simple but made a fun and
creative game and this is something I wanted to
achieve.
Researching this game also gave me the idea of it
being underground as I think this is something unique
because on the previous researched games they were
all above the ground so something set underground
was something that I really wanted to do, the idea of
coin collection was something I saw on all of the
researched games so that was something that I felt
like had to be apart of it because it gives an incentive
rather than just attacking enemies it adds another
thing to collect.
Looking at Sonic wasn’t that helpful because it isn't as
pixelated as all the other games I researched so it was
hard to see what game I wanted to create and how
Sonic was similar to it, however overall I really
enjoyed doing research as it think it did really help on
what sort of game I wanted to create and it allowed
me to take little ideas from different games and
combine them together and that helped with the base
of my final product

4. Planning
The first thing I did with planning was creating some
experiments and the first one I created was really simple
and I used one background but had it so it appeared to be
moving. I think this was helpful because it made me realise
that this type of game is something I didn't want to create
because it didn't fit with what I had in mind so I decided to
have another go at creating something and it was more of
what I had in mind with the space theme and the
platforms. And doing this experiment helped because it
allowed me to work with the different platforms and have
the character jumping across the space, however I think
what would have helped would be to have designed a
character properly and practice a walking sequence
because I think this would have allowed me to use a
walking sequence in my final product but I didn’t because I
didn't have an idea on how to make it look like it was
walking so I avoided it. Therefore I think if I did more
experiments with a walking sequence I would have
included it in my final product

5. The next part of planning was to create different
mood boards and I think this really helped because
it allowed me to have a look at the different
backgrounds used and some were simple and some
were quite complicated, I specifically looked at
space themed games because I was interested in
what colors were being used. I then went onto
looking at the character ideas because I wasn’t sure
what to base my alien off and what it should look
like so I did some research and I planned to make it
look like the Toy Story alien and this was a good idea
because thee were images of it being a pixel version

6. After looking at some ideas the next thing to do was to create a
style sheet with the different types of colors I was going to use and
for this I used Adobe Color because it allowed me to get an image
and it would pick out some colors that might be of an interest and
this was very helpful because it allowed me to see what colors
worked well together and which ones wouldn't. I chose images of
space games because that is what I decided to base my game on
and it was interesting to see what colors different games used. I was
aiming for bright colors because I wanted it to stand out and be
colorful so I picked the brightest color options, however when it
came to creating my game I decided not to have really bright colors
and this is because I don’t think it worked well with the different
browns when it was underground
The next part of the planning was to have an idea of
what it would look like so I got an image of
underground and just added shapes to show where
I would have the enemies and the red hexagon was
to show where you needed to get to. I chose an
image off of the internet because it was quicker
than drawing it out myself and it was very similar to
what I wanted to create. This image is what I based
my background design on so I think this was very
helpful, however I think it would have been
beneficial to draw my own background because it
could have been in more detail if I had planned it
out rather than get an image off of the internet

7. Time Management
I think I have managed my time successfully as I have managed to complete my work
before it is due, however I think if I had more time I would have been able to improve
the details of some of the PowerPoints and I would have also had time to practice a
walking sequence with the alien, which I think would have looked good instead of it
just moving around. Also I would have put more detail into the enemies attacking
rather than just having some of them not attack or I would have improved some of the
walking rather than them having limited movement. Additionally I would have made
the sequences look smoother because I think that is something that can be improved.

8. Technical Qualities
Overall I am happy with how my final project
turned out I like the detail in the background
because I think it adds dimension so it doesn’t
look as flat, I think the character design could
have been more complex and I think with a
little more time I would have altered the
design to be a little more complex in terms of
the enemies however in the last level I do like
the way the enemies move and when I was
creating it, it was quite difficult because I had
to turn the layers on and off every time they
moved however I do think it worked out how I
imagined it. The animation could run a lot
smoother when the characters are jumping or
moving so it doesn’t look so jolty
In comparison to Super Mario Bros I think they
are similar with the idea of platforms and
collecting coins etc. also the way the enemies
are defeated by the characters jumping on
them, however Super Mario Bros runs a bit
smoother than my project but I think if I had
longer to complete it the animation of my
project could have run a lot smoother

9. Aural Qualities
I think the sound effects on my final project work with the theme of the game, I used BeepBox and
chose the Robot sound effect quite a bit and placed it in random places however I think this
worked well because the intro to the game sounds like a space themed game. I then went on to
have different sounds for when you collected items, however after playing it through it was too
quiet at some points in the game so I decided to add a background sound and turned down the
amount of decibels to around -7 so you could hear it but I didn’t want it too loud otherwise I think
there would be too much going on. When it said ‘Game Over’ I created a negative sound and this is
similar to many games as when the game ends there is always a negative sound, for example with
Super Mario Bros when you get injured or the game is over there is always a negative sound to
indicate something bad has happened and this is the case with many other games. Overall I think
the sound for my project isn’t too simple because I have included many sound effects and I have
had to cut them precisely to when the character is jumping however I think it could have been
more detailed and more effective if I spent more time on the audio I would try not keep the
background music all the same and change it depending on the level

10. Aesthetic Qualities
I like the overall aesthetic quality of my game because it
varies on each level for example in the 1st level, the
colours are bright and the colours used on the spaceship
are the stereotypical colours associated with aliens. I
think overall the idea of the game is quite simple because
it is only a platform/jumping type of game however I
wanted to make sure that there was a story included and
I think this makes it more exciting because it makes the
game have a purpose and a clear idea of where it is going
I do like the final design of the alien because I think it is
simple but effective, However it isn’t a creative idea
because most aliens in games look very similar so I think
this could have been improved.

11. I like the overall design on this level I like the background
and the detail within it because it adds dimension, I also like
the look of the enemies because they are simple to create
but it is clear to see what they are. However I think I could
have kept them all the same colour because then it would
definitely be clear that they are all the bad characters. I
think it is quite a creative idea because I took ideas from
existing games and combined them but I think it is simple
however I think if I had had more time there is definitely an
idea that I could go with and take it more into detail
This is the next level and this isn’t one of my
favourites because I think I rushed it a bit,
however I like the design because the colours
contrast well and clearly shows that you are
heading further down under ground and
suggesting you're getting closer to ‘Hell’. If I could
have improved it I would make there be a few
more platforms and a few more aliens because I
think it would just have made it a bit more
exciting and a bit more of a challenge

12. I think this is one of my favourite designs and I think
it is creative and works well. By projecting the alien
at the front of the screen it extenuates the
background yet at the same time focuses on the
alien and the enemy. I liked how I used the blur tool
to create different shades of the colours used
because it blends them together to look less flat
and doesn’t make it overly blocked with colour, I
also like the way I used the grey tones in the
background then changed to a burgundy colour
then the bright orange tones etc. I did this because
I liked the way the colours complimented each
other and created a dimension to give the illusion
of a bigger space. Additionally the alien turns red
when injured and I think this is simple however I
wanted something simple so it was easy to recreate
on every different level.

13. Audience Appeal
• ‘I like how long the game is. It shows you have put time and effort into it,
the effort is also shown in the creative details within the background . The
idea for your game, you have definitely done, I also like that the monsters
don’t just disappear once they die, the larger ones have a bloody splatter
once they die, also a side mini quest is the coins collected in the game
which is a small task within the larger task of completing the level.’
This is some of the feedback I got from other people similar to my age
and I think this shows that I have appealed to my target audience
because the game isn’t too confusing and there isn’t too much going on
however there is enough for there to be a challenge because as well as
defeating the enemies you also have to collect the coins.
I think this level will appeal the
most because it includes enemies
that fly which increases the
difficulty, and also the animation
will appeal because I think the flying
enemies was animated as well as I
could have and it works effectively
however I could have had them fly
for longer but I ran out of time
To finish this level you have to
collect all of the red coins and
this will allow the player to
move on and I think this appeals
because the game then has a
purpose and you're not just
collecting coins for no reason
you have to get them before you
move on