{"id":168,"date":"2026-10-06T09:28:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T09:28:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/lhlb1n25\/?p=168"},"modified":"2026-10-13T09:27:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:27:36","slug":"week-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/lhlb1n25\/2026\/10\/06\/week-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Week Three"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week we had a workshop ran by game designer Venezia Georgieva, who was giving us a lecture on game overviews, game pillars, and game loops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Game Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escape the stage as a lighting technician who was fallen from the batten mid-show! Hide behind props, avoid the blinding spotlights, and scurry to the beat to evade the keen gaze of the audience… all with a broken leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Game Pillars<\/strong> for ‘Break a Leg*’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Name of Idea 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escape to the Beat<\/strong><\/td>Try and Try Again<\/strong><\/td>Compare Scores<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
To not be noticed by the audience, players must avoid unstable props, bright spotlights, and move in time to the actors roaring voices to keep anyone from seeing them. We wouldn’t want to ruin the play!<\/td>Each level the player ends up in will be more tedious than the last. Players will fail many times before they succeed, needing to remember the layout of the stage and know their characters limits to get off in time.<\/td>How swiftly, steadily, and healthily the player gets off the stage all matters for points. Compare your scores with friends to see who comes out on top!<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Game Loop<\/strong>, Complete Levels<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Move to the Music:<\/span> The player shuffles one step at a time to the beat of the song to not draw attention to themselves. (+ Points<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Navigate the Stage: <\/span>The player must avoid obstacles to get off of the stage, preventing the play from being disrupted. (+ Points<\/em>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Escape:<\/span> Player leaves the stage and progresses to the next level.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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    Game Loop<\/strong> Research: <\/strong>Friday Night Funkin’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After completing the game loop exercise, I decided to play and analyse Friday Night Funkin’<\/strong>, a rhythm game that uses arrow keys like I plan on doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Friday Night Funkin’<\/strong>s game loop is slightly simpler than my own game idea, but it’s a very similar concept. Press the arrow keys in time to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Press Arrow Keys to the Beat:<\/span> The player presses the appropriate arrow keys to a beat in response to the person they’re ‘fighting’, keeping their health up.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Win or Lose:<\/span> The player either loses by missing too many notes, or wins and receives a grade showing how well they did.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Friday Night Funkin’<\/strong> is a very popular game in the rhythm gaming community, and so sticking with a similar game loop to them is probably a good idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Mason also informed me that it is apparently very common for people to change the key bindings<\/em> <\/strong>in more difficult weeks or modded versions of the game, as its easier to spread out the controls so you can play with two hands rather than one<\/em><\/strong>. Though, we discussed that perhaps only having the choice to play with one hand (arrow keys if you’re right-handed\/WASD if left-handed) adds a challenge<\/strong> <\/em>that players will have to overcome. With this in mind, I think that the difficulty (speed) will probably have to be lowered throughout the game for it to be fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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      Prototype Progress<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Before doing anything else, I added some temporary collider boxes and a capsule<\/strong> (placeholder for ‘actor’), just to decorate the scene slightly. This was also beneficial to test out collision in my scripting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n