Basic explanation of platformer rules.

• Collide - To make sure that the player one actor would not fall through the floor, I had to put a a collision rule when player one comes into contact with the ground. 
• Gravity - I put the player one actor above the ground so that when I preview the game, the actor will fall down. This is because of the accelerate rule I added that causes the actor to always fall down unless something stops it.
• Controls - The jumping mechanic was done by moving the actor upwards with the press of the spacebar but to ensure the player couldn't jump infinitely, I added a rule that only allows the jump if the actor is touching the ground.

Money Seize

Today I played "Money Seize". In this game you control Sir Reginald Moneyseize who jumps around on platforms collecting coins and jumping on enemies to kill them. The way this game plays feels entirely different compared to how Jumpman plays in donkey kong, this is due to many different reasons. For one, Money Seize is a lot faster with both the movement of the character and the enemies. Your abilities in money seize are a lot more expansive also as you can double jump, skid jump and wall jump which is very different to Jumpman in donkey kong who can only do very awkwardly specific jumps over obstacles. However I noticed that with the speed of Reginald, you often find yourself slipping and sliding across platforms which can lead to accidental death. In donkey kong you move very slowly and your jumps feel a lot safer.

Overall these two games are very different in play styles.

Mario Kart 8 Customization

Emotional Reponse To Mario Kart

I went and loaded up Mario kart 8 and decided to play the first track from the mushroom cup which is more or less the “tutorial” for the game. The track itself is just a generic “Mario Kart Stadium” however this works as a good starting point for new players of the series. My personal reaction to playing it again was mainly fun, since Mario kart has no real narrative structure, there are no plot points to consider or in depth characters to relate to. The game is purely colourful cartoon racing. I also want to note i was playing on the easy mode to help me enjoy the track instead of focusing too much on the difficulty.

The track itself seemed to be designed to explain key game mechanics to the player. You obviously have the item boxes and boosters which come as self explanatory as you play but the track is designed with a major bend near the start, I can easily see the other racers powerslide around it which teaches me how to manoeuvre round bends on the track. There is also sections of the zero gravity track which caused my kart to turn into a magnet, sticking to the road as well as a big jump that uses the mid air gliding feature. Not all tracks have both these sections but it was important that this one did.

Overall, this game gave me a great sense of accomplishment from winning even on a simple track. Putting up the difficulty will actually improve the A.I and make the gameplay faster, thus making for a more challenging but equally more enjoyable race. This tutorial track was great for me when I was learning how to play the game and is still fun to play now.

Mario Kart 8 Infograph