How to sell Avon-Medium.m4v

June 8, 2011

Well, I am ready to present. I hope everyone likes the demo. Even though the class was quite enjoyable, I have too many things going on to take the second part. I am getting a Master's in Journalism and working part time along with raising 5 kids. This class has been an experience and I won't lie I have cried a few times, wondering if I will ever make it through. However, I made it and I am ready to present and hopefully everyone will enjoy my presentation.

Whew!

We are down to the last week of class and I am excited to be finished with my game. Game Design is an awesome field for a student, but I know that it is not for me. I do not seem to have the patience to turn this into an occupation. I have enjoyed this class and it has helped me develop skills that I could possibly use someday. I am excited to have been a part of this experience, however, I am looking forward to only having to focus on my Journalism Masters at FullSail after this week. I am a writer, not a digital engineer! I am so glad that we were required to start a blog for this class, because I have been wanting an excuse to keep a digital journal.

Completely changed my idea! on 10th day of class

Wow! what an experience this has been! I have decided that my previous idea was too complex to develop in such a short time. I have decided to change my idea completely! I am creating a game called Hiragana Hangman. The player is given a Japanese word in hiragana symbols. The player's job is to guess the hiragana symbol and it's Japanese word by playing the Hangman game. This is far less taxing than developing a business enterprise that starts with a roadside produce stand. Because this is just a demo, I am going to keep it simple and create a game that teaches the player a very important international language, Japanese!

Day 6 of Globaloria Class

Today is a pretty good day, except for the usual problems with our teenagers, I guess it just comes with the territory, right? I have decided to change my game idea and make a game that educates people about organic gardening.
Today in class we learned about making shapes move, creating text in flash etc. No tedious code inputs here hahaha! My current blog assignment is to answer the questions about designing my game such as targeted audience, purpose of game etc. Here goes:
WHO are you designing your game for? I want this game to be for a general audience, really no particular demographic. I guess to narrow my audience down, the game would appeal to middle school aged children to adults because they have the cognitive ability to create a garden and make business decisions knowing somewhat the consequences of the decisions. There will be probably a great deal of prior knowledge of my topic because there are plenty of gardening games out there.WHAT will your game teach the player about your topic? (Be specific!) This game will teach the player several aspects of starting their own small business and how a business that is compatible with nature can be just as profitable as one that isn't. This will also reintroduce the concept that although small businesses bring a slow gradual return on investment, they also provide financial and emotional satisfaction if managed in an ethical manner.WHERE does your game happen?

• Describe the world you will design for your game. The world for my game will be a small plot of land on the outskirts of a big city.
• How will this setting add to the learning experience? It will teach the player to literally start a small business from the ground up because as the player sells their products to local markets, they build rapport, which allows them to expand their business throughout the large city that surrounds the player's area.
• WHY is a game a better way of understanding your topic than a quiz? Because a game can provide entertainment while the player is learning, which causes the player to act instead of do. A simulated experience could encourage a player to live the simulated experience in reality.

Day 5 of Globaloria Class

The first question for me to answer is Was it hard to make your mini game? Answer: Yes, it is extremely difficult to remember the exact codes for the game. You have to be exact with the input of information or you receive error messages. I have a new respect for these school children who made these simple flash games that I have tested. I understand why the games are "juvenile" in nature. I also have an appreciation for people that program computers for a profession.
The best part of this topic was the learning process of programming the game to work right. The worst part of this topic was entering the codes exactly. I will admit this was very confusing and left me frustrated more than once. I hope now that I know how to program the codes I hope I can remember them. I will also have to admit that even though this process was very frustrating it was fun. I look forward to understanding the programming more through practice. 

Day 3 of Globaloria class: Today we started with watching a classmate try out several different genres of games. We started Unit 2, in which we played some games and thought about our topics. I am unsure of my exact topic as of yet, but I am working on narrowing it down. I am considering planning a game that addresses excessive consumerism and it's devastating effects on society and the planet we inhabit. I would like my game to teach it's players about the threats faced by the environment due to out of control consuming and disposing. In our wasteful modern society, it is vital that we come up with alternatives to being wasteful. This will be the challenge because there will be a great degree of complexity when trying to live a sustainable lifestyle. Why is sustainability so important? What can corporations due to encourage socially responsible living and still achieve profitability?  These are just two out of the many questions I have when it comes to addressing the problems of excessive consumerism. This could perhaps be one of the biggest challenges I have faced, however I feel like that this issue is so important, making this a challenge I am willing to face with creativity.

Thoughts on Game Genre

I am not quite sure what genre I want to choose for the creation of my game. I am considering action, adventure, strategy...... I am still at this point undecided. I am thinking possibly a game that teaches children about potential career paths. I might also create a game called Race to cut the deficit, in which the player has to make critical decisions to balance the federal budget. A lot of these games might be considered more appropriate for younger children. The creator of the game WV Animal Rescue had a good idea when creating this game, however I find the gameplay monotonous. I realize that the creators of these games are far younger than I, however I believe that if the students creating these games had a few months or more to concentrate on them, they would have been a lot more complex and challenging. I know that the creation of a "fun and educational" game will be quite a challenge. I am ready to accept the challenge and hope that my creative streak will shine through.

Day 2 May 17 Globaloria class

On Day 2 of our class we personalized our social profile and added and messaged friends. We also added gadgets to our blog. After this we viewed a classmate's blog and made comments. We ended the class with reading the participation guidelines concerning online privacy.
There are many reasons why one should protect their privacy online. The most important reason is due to identity theft, a major problem in the United States. People do not want others to access personal, financial, and professional information because this empowers people who are out to hurt others. It should just be common sense that people should be cautious about posting any information online that could jeopardize their personal privacy and cause serious financial and psychological harm.

May 16 Day 1 of Globaloria Class

I am excited to participate in this class and learn new skills. I play flash animation games myself and I know that many people have became quite wealthy from publishing flash games on social networking sites such as Facebook etc. I am interested in learning how to create fun and educational games with my Globaloria experience. I have a general idea about what type of game I would like to create, I will just have to turn the idea into reality. While I am taking this WVUP course, I will also be obtaining a Master's Degree in New media Journalism strarting on May 31st. I am very excited about learning new skills and advancing my education to potentially generate income in the near future.