Self-Reflection of a Year in Globaloria

This year has been great, just like previous years! This year, we created educational games in Flash, which were about Healthy Living or Safe Driving. Of course, I really enjoyed making my game about Healthy Living. I did mine about choosing healthy foods and reading fun facts about them. I also included unhealthy choices because the player might not know why this choice isn't the best choice. Throughout the game, I was thinking of how I was really focused. I finished one scene and jumped to another scene. That was the good thing about this year: I wasn't like last year. I didn't wait for my work to be due in a specific date. This year, as soon as I finished something, I would immediately proceed to my next step. I also learned new things. We created a Mobile Game in Flash and we had to program it with Action Script 3. To me, it was really hard! This was my first year, so I haven't got used to it...Anyways, using Action Script 3, was also a new experience to me because even though it was difficult, I really like challenges! Now I see myself learning new things in Globaloria. I have also acquired new skills. First of all, I didn't know how to work with the key frames. It was something that I wanted to learn, so as I began to play with Flash, it seemed that I just wanted to keep on going. I also like that I got way better in drawing in Flash. Drawing in Flash is one of the things that I enjoy the most because throughout drawings, I can express myself. Previous years, I did draw good, but I got more creative and gained more imagination...I think. Not also did I did good in Flash, but writing a blog too. I was already good at it, but now I can be myself by expressing my thoughts and I love it!
In this year, I even won a Globey Award for best Hidden Object Game. This was a great accomplishment in my life!
Well, this year is about to be over, but I will miss Globaloria because it's actually my favorite class! This was my favorite game that I created in Flash this year:

5-year-old girl killed by suicide jumper in South Korea

In Seoul, South Korea, a 5- year-old South Korean girl was killed when one man was trying to suicide himself by falling from his 11th floor from his apartments and landed on top of her. This was Wednesday night in Busan, a port city in the southern part of the country. The man was 38 years old and crushed the little girl's body. The man died right away. He was being treated for depression, but he couldn't take it anymore. The little girl was then taken to the hospital. She died from a skull fracture. Well, for South Korea, suicide is not something new...South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates among economically advanced countries. This is because of socio-economic pressures, an aging population, and the growing of one-person households.
I really am sorry for the man that committed suicide because maybe he just couldn't find any way to get it over with. I am much more sorry for the girl that didn't have to do with anything, yet, she had to pay the price...This is another way of showing us that even if we don't pay a little attention to one thing, that can affect us.
Here is a link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/23/girl-killed-by-suicide-jumper-south-korea_n_3326018.html
By: The Sydney Morning Herald
May 23, 2013

Bombing Manhunt locks down Boston

One suspect from the Boston Marathon Bombings, is dead. The other one, who appeared to be is brother, ran away. An army of law enforcement officials are in a "hunt," for him. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, with the age of 26, died when the police shot him. He was suspect # 1 in the attacks Monday that killed 3. His brother, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, escaped. It was a real tragedy! It's incredible how these 2 suspects/brothers, were in the marathon, just looking like normal people! According to the police, these 2 men were walking together near the marathon finish line. These two had a normal life, that they both went to college and yet, they decided to mess up their lives just like that. Tamerlan said," I don't have a single American friend. I don't understand them..." I really don't what to say about what he had said, but still, if he had no friends, it's still not a reason to kill and bomb a place with innocent people... This has been a very sad event and yet to be discovered...
**Go to this link to learn more about the event: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/19/us/boston-area-violence/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Mobile-Draw your Background

Write a post about drawing your background in Flash.
What were the differences between drawing on paper vs. drawing in Flash?
Which did you like more?
How did creating a paper prototype first help you with Flash?

Paper Prototype

What problems did it help you to solve with your game idea?
Well, one thing is the Scrolling Background. It helped me to think of the kind of places that I was going to add in my mobile game. For instance, I am doing diabetes, how to prevent yourself from having it. What I mean is that, you are the author of your own life and you are going to have to go to different places. The main cause for diabetes is for having high blood sugar. Many people in different places go to restaurants, but maybe they are not conscious to what they are putting into their stomach. For the Scrolling Background, you are going to see lots of restaurants, but you are also going to see many food. These are healthy and unhealthy foods. I am more interested in putting food into the game, because like I said, diabetes comes from the food that you eat. This will hopefully teach other players to take care of themselves and realize that diabetes is an option in your life. You decide whether you want to have a long lasting life or live a shorter life worrying about your health. These are some of the things that helped me solve my game idea.

Imagine Team Game

Who/Player Age Group:
This game is going to be designed for all people that want to have a healthy life. Everyone has to take their own decisions and there is no pressure taken place.

What: What will the player learn about your game topic?
The player will learn lots of ways to prevent themselves from having diabetes. We all know that diabetes is a problem in the body where their glucose sugar is high. Others might include obesity or hereditary from family. Diabetes is a very serious problem and we want the percentage to go lower. Healthy foods and healthy activities, is a healthy life.

Where: Where does your game take place?
My game takes place in many places. Humans go and come back from many different places. They don't do anything, they do many things. Two of them are eating and spend time with activities. They are not conscious about what they put into their body. They are not conscious about the importance of having regular physical activities. The setting determines what their life will be in the future.

How: How does your game teach the player of your topic?
My game will teach players my game topic by knowing how to prevent themselves from having diabetes. You will have to collect healthy foods and healthy activities. As you all know, the player will have to avoid the unhealthy foods and physical inactivity. There are many ways where you can prevent yourself from having diabetes, but there are also many ways where you can get yourself have diabetes.

Game Learning Topic

• Explain the game topic you chose for your action mobile game.
• Tell me why you chose this topic.
• How will you use the game mechanics such as, moving, scrolling, avoiding and collecting objects - to educate players about your learning topic?

The game topic that I chose for my action mobile game was Healthy Living: Diabetes. I chose this topic because it's really important that you prevent yourself from having diabetes. It's been tested that diabetes can cause strokes, heart attacks, heart disease, and can cause even death. More African Americans and Hispanics have the higher risk from having Type 2 Diabetes. People most commonly have Type 2 Diabetes because of their age, family history of diabetes, or physical inactivity. This game will surely teach other players to take care of themselves because the body is one of the most wonderful creations that exist in the entire world, but there are times when people don't remember that. Hopefully, this will teach them to take care of themselves.

I will use the game mechanics by collecting all the possible things that can help you prevent having diabetes. This is by collecting healthy foods and physical activity. The player will have to avoid unhealthy foods and physical inactivity, these can lead you to have an unhealthy life. The moving is basically yourself. You can travel many places and eat, but you ignore the fact of HEALTH. This will help players know what many people are facing in their daily lives.

Mobile- Plan Game Scene

Write about your vision for this game. What excites you the most?
My vision of the game will be: you are at a store where you can buy all sorts of food. There are lots of healthy foods, but there are also lots and lots of unhealthy foods. Your objective will be to collect healthy objects and avoid at all costs unhealthy foods. If you get all possible points, then you proceed to the next level. The next level, you are at home and there are lots of activities that you can do, but let's say, you can't decide. You want to collect all outdoor activities that require movement. You wan to avoid indoor activities where you don't sweat or don't do any movement. That's a basic idea that I have for my game.
What excites me the most is to have players know this issue. I decided to focus on diabetes because people don't realize what they are putting into their bodies and they will end up having strokes, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and death. This game wills surely teach on how to prevent yourself from having this problem.

Choose Team Game Topic

The topic that I am going to focus on is Healthy Living about Diabetes, on how to prevent from having this condition. Diabetes is a serious problem because you can live with this your whole life. People usually slow down this condition by taking pills and taking shots, but nobody really wants that. People should learn to take care of themselves by doing activities that will prevent them from having diabetes. That way, they can have a peace and tranquility and will even enjoy what they are eating or doing. Well, anyways, my game will teach players to AVOID the different things that can cause you from having diabetes. Not only that, the player will have to COLLECT things such as, fruits, vegetables, and outdoor activities that require lots of movement. People who have diabetes are mostly obese because they don't really move. This game will really teach how to prevent yourself from having diabetes.

Learn To Design For Mobile

Describe two designs for your Side Scrolling Action game - one for mobile and one for console.
Well, I guess that creating a Side Scrolling Action game will be difficult at first. If I would, then I would just make a game like Angry Birds. This seems like a very smart idea because we all know that creating buttons in a mobile game, can be very, um, complicated. Because of this, I am going to add less action for the mobile game. For the Scrolling Action game, there is going to be like action where the player just has to pass some courses. I will try my best to make the background as realistic as possible.
Explain the differences between the two and why you made those decisions.
Well, one difference that I can see between a console and a mobile game, is that the console has a controller. Most of us, it's easier to play a game with a controller that controls the game. A mobile game or device, well, it's much difficult. You have difficulties with the buttons because maybe they are too close or too small to touch them. For me, I would choose a console system because it's an easier way to enjoy games...with no problems!

PlayStation 4

Well, this is actually really...fascinating! Although I don't have a Play Station, this seems very thrilling for players that love to play them. As you can see in the pictures, it's really no difference, but somehow it looks different and way cooler. One time I played the Play Station, and it just seemed normal, but yet, fun. Imagine  the new high-tech Play Station 4!?! Big fans of the Play Station, must be very excited and can't wait for this smart device. Anyways, I just think that this is one of the million ways that technology is getting more advanced at times. More than that, people are thrilled and happy.
                                                     HAPPY PLAY STATION 4!

Black History Month Game

This game was created by Ana 02/20/2013

You play this game by reading facts about Etta James. Then, you answer the quiz questions. If you did actually read the facts, then you go to Level 2. You have to find the hidden objects in the stage. When you have found them, you will find information about Etta James.

Black History Month: Etta James

Her real name is Jamesetta Hawkins. She was born in January 25, 1938 in Los Angeles. She died January 20, 2012, which wasn't that long.
Etta James was an American singer. She mostly sang blues, rhythm and blues, rock n roll, soul, gospel, but most of the time, jazz was her favorite genre. Despite of her drug problems, she had won grammy award nominations for her 1973 album. By the age of 5, Etta was known for a gospel prodigy gaining her fame by singing in her church choir and singing in the radio. After the age of 12, she moved to San Francisco and there, she was already in a band. She had signed lots of contracts with what became of what she sang. She also got a grammy nomination for the genre of rock n roll and she won. She still performed good by the 1990's, which proves it because her album Blue Gardenia, rose to the tops of the Billboard Jazz. In 2003, she underwent gastric bypass surgery and lost over 200 pounds! Sadly, she had leukemia and that sort of stopped her from her great performances and talent. She died in January 20, 2012 in Riverside, California. She is still known for being one of the most dynamic singers of all time.

Website Retrieved from: http://www.biography.com/people/etta-james-9542558?page=2

Presentation of Game

Describe your learning topic for the game. What is the most important thing you want your players to learn?
My learning topic for my game is Health. My game is about choosing and eating healthy foods. This is a very important topic because we want to maintain our bodies as healthy as possible. We don't want to result in having diabetes and have a high pressure. This is something that we all know. Believe me, all of us know that eating healthy is important, but people don't care. If you eat healthy, good beneficial things will come your way. You wont have to worry to get your blood tested of how much sugar you have. You will have a very tranquilizing life, with no worries.
What kind of research did you do? What did you learn about your topic?
I did research about healthy foods. All the research that I did was finding what kinds of foods are healthy and unhealthy and why they are considered to be that. I looked up interesting facts that I didn't  know, but have heard about. Now I know what kinds of foods you should consume in your everyday life. I learned much more about facts that seem a little shocking at first, but while you are thinking about it, you learn so much!
How did your ideas change as you worked on your game?
Well, at first, I didn't want to make the unhealthy objects into a button because I thought it was going to be a lot of work. Afterwards, I thought about it and it turned out that players would love to know more about why that kind of food is unhealthy. I wanted to do a timer, but then I thought that in real life, we are not to be pressured when we are making choices. As for staying healthy, we want to make the right choices.
What Game Ingredients and Help Center resources have been most useful to you so far, and why?
Well, at first, I didn't know how to program the Magnifying Glass. In fact, I couldn't get it to have the Zoom. The only way that I got it to work was by asking my classmates. I looked at how they were doing it, and it turned out to be like kind of easy, but yet still difficult. I myself learned how to add different scenes and how to go to them directly.
Which part of making the game was most difficult for you? How did you overcome this difficulty? What features are you most proud of your game?
Like I said, getting this assignment due on time, was pretty difficult. The other thing was the Magnifying Glass, but I overcame that obstacle by getting help from my classmates. Another thing was that getting more ideas was kind of hard, but in the end I just made something more simple,so that way players will have no difficulty in understanding the goal of my game. I am most proud of the way I made my game look. I didn't do it like all professional, but I drew it in a way where you would most likely have it in a situation.

Game Ingredients

Write about a problem you overcame while working on the code for one of the game ingredients.
Well, first of all, I had problems with all three game ingredients. For the Overlay Objects, I swear that I couldn't hide the objects. I mean seriously! I tried and tried, until I was beginning to experiment the layers. The problem was resolved by making the object WHERE you wanted to hide it in. For example, I wanted to hide the whole wheat bread. I had to make the toaster first and then the bread. It was something easy when I did it! Another problem was Win, and Losing Screens. I had trouble making the background. I know, at first you are like, background?...that is so easy! It turned out that I was using the brush tool. When you use the brush tool, it can be very difficult to fill in the background with the color you want it to be. You have to go through the lines and make sure that they are all closed. I didn't exactly do that. I did the background and I made another layer where I want to be like the background that I wanted it to look like. Then I copied the background and BAM...it did work! The last problem was the Magnifying Glass. That one gave me lots of trouble. On that one, I asked people for help because honestly, I didn't know how to put the mask on and all of that stuff. The only thing that I needed help with, was to get the magnifying glass to move. I mean, it did have the Zoom, but with a little help from somebody, it did work, and I am very thankful to her. Even if you are good at programming, sometimes the ones that are advanced, can have trouble with these little mistakes.