TASK 2 Computer Gaming Report

TASK 2 REPORT

Computer gaming elements used to develop the story of Harry Potter and Velocity are the location,conditions,actions,symbolism,3 act narrative structure,hero's journey,episodic narrative and representation of gender and/or race.

HARRY POTTER


The Harry Potter video game is based upon a fantasy novel that was written for children. The game,like the novel consists of sequences and series that foretells the whole Harry Potter story narrative.
The game falls under the Role-Playing genre whereby the player would assume the role of the protagonist and be Harry Potter.
The game's location takes place in England, in a magic school that is unknown to the rest of the world.The school is Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts is a ancient,enormous, seven story high castle that is supported by magic. It has been bewitched to prevent Muggels,like us who do not have magic in our blood from entering it. All we will see is a dilapidated building with a sign warning us not to enter.It is hidden in the depths of mountains and forests.
The conditions of the game include the secret passage ways, hidden doors, moving staircases, dungeons, magic doors, a forbidden forest and the Chamber Of Secrets.
The aim of the game is to complete all the challenges and tasks you will be encountered with throughout the whole game. The obstacles you will be facing aid you in acquiring and developing the skills  you will need in order to defeat Lord Voldemort once you have reached the last level. Conquering him is the games intention.Play the game as a reenactment of the Harry Potter stories. Like the Harry Potter story you will have the ability to cast spells, conjure up potions, fly on a broom, use your magic wand and fight off any magical spiders or creatures that block your way. However their is a limit to your abilities due to the game being a role-playing game, it is strictly structured within the narrative of the story.
The typical '3 act narrative ' storyline of Harry Potter consists of the equilibrium when Harry is visited by Dobby a slave elf who informs him of his future as a Wizard. He boards the triple decker Knight bus towards Platform Nine and Three Quarters where he then boards the train toward Hogwarts. His journey as a Wizard has now begun.The disruption of the story seems never ending, it is where the majority of the tasks and challenges set is incorporated into the game. Before accomplishing the game, the challenges set to you are the episodic narratives such as the Quidditch Match, Defeating of the Basilisk, surviving the Triwizard Tournament and many more .
The theme of the story and game is heroism. Harry Potter is the 'hero' and Lord Voldermort the 'villian'. In both the game and the story Harry Potter is seen as being heroic by always accomplishing the difficulties he is faced with while being at Hogwarts. There is an admiration to his heroism as his age is constantly being portrayed. Harry Potter is represented as a young boy who still goes to school. Despite the school being magnificently magical and intimidating, Harry is always seen in his school uniform, implying his innocence and expected authority as a student. However, due to all the unexpected responsibility and challenges he has to overcome and face , his maturity,braveness and success is a reflection of him being a hero.The ending of the story which in turn is the ultimate purpose of the game is when Harry Potter comes face to face with his long term enemy, Lord Voldermort . His vengeance for defeating Lord Voldermort dates back to an initial feud involving his parents . Another way the theme of heroism is being symolised is that both the hero and villian are males. The decision of choosing the male gender for the representation is most likely due to the targeted audience of the story. Though the story is a fantasy generic based story, it has elements of crime and mystery which interests the male gender. Also focusing on appealing to a targeted audience, another reason for making Harry Potter a little boy is because the author wanted him to be relatable and admirable to school children. The target audience were school boys.
Lastly, the choice of having majority of the characters represented by the English race and British nationality is solely down to the story's location which takes place in England. Not only is the theme and dilemma of 'Good vs Evil ' being symbolised as Harry Potter representing 'Good' and Lord Voldermort, 'Evil' but the items and clothing shown in the game is too portrayed to symbolise other contributing themes the story involves. Broomsticks, cauldrons, invisible cloaks, wands, a black cat and the use of many white candles ,and having students and teachers dressed in long black cloaks, is distinctly perceived to symoblise  magic and witchcraft.

VELOCITY ULTRA

The shooting genre game , Velocity has a story narrative that takes place in the future, year 2212 in space. The 3 act narrative structure begins with an equilibrium that is a dilemma .
When playing the game you will assume the role of the Quarp Jet. Space mining ships, colony cruisers and the special forces fighters has crash landed into a black hole. All power in order for them to get home has been lost. The only remaining working transport is the Quarp Jet.
Conduct a rescue operation ,rescuing the ships and survivors while you attempt to accomplish the 50 levels.The abilities you will be capable of would be teleportation,speed and high jumps. The challenges you will be faced with is completing the level withing the specific time given. Its a race against time.The disruption of the story becomes a challenge when you have to battle a neighbouring race that has come to invade your station. Also, in order to save a ship, you must unravel and decode them in order to take down their protective shield against you. Though in Velocity Ultra the player would be represented by a shipping device, Velocity 2x has a protagonist represent by a female that is half robot and half human.
The reason of choosing a female gender as the lead hero and only character of the game is due to the creator being a highly supportive feminist, important women in his life such as his mother,girlfriend and sister are also contributing influences he based Velocity on. Personally I think the representation and symbolism of the characters physical appearance is due to balancing out the masculinity and femininity of Velocity .
Velocity is a tall ,well built, strong looking Caucasian Blonde with blue eyes. As mentioned earlier, she is half robot and half human. The robot side to her symbolises the masculinity as the armour she is wearing is a structured metal gear covering her whole body. The femininity is symobolised by her genetic appearance.
The ending of the story is when the dilemma of the crash is solved, when the ships and survivors are out of the black hole.