For out past CSAI classes we have been working on “arcade controllers”. We were handed supplies and tools. The first thing we had to do was to create buttons for our box. The box has wires and a raspberry pi inside of it. The buttons would connect to outputs that also connected the wires. Connecting the wires, in my opinion, was the hardest part of the whole process. Then you have the ground wire. The ground wire connects all the buttons and the raspberry pi together. With everything connected together, the box would function. I made many mistakes while trying to put the wires together. Such as not being able to crush plastic (with provided tools of course). I soon realized that I am not that great at wires. With the buttons and wires connected to the raspberry pi, it was time to put my games into the pi.

I struggled a ton on this part. What we had to do now, was to put files of our games into the pi. My first problem was I used the wrong link to download them. In order to put the files onto the pi, you need to download them as an elf file. Eventually I got it, then you needed to move the file into the SD card. Easy peasy right? I tried to do it, but then I needed to find which file on the card it goes into. After that it was finally over. I chose to only put one game onto my pi, “Dungeon Run”. It was the one I was most proud of. Sadly, I do not have any footage of my game working, but I assure you that it does.

Now the box needed to be in its final state. I already had a decent sized box made out of cardboard, but it could be better. I added duct tape to it to make it more durable. Next, I created a sliding piece on the bottom of the box to allow easy access to my wires and pi. I planned to make it accessible enough to simply plug in cords to the pi from outside, like a phone. The force that was needed to actually plug it in is not suited for the box. So I made a compromise to this. The box now has an area that is safe for the pi, and it is also easily accessible.

Looking back at my work, I’m proud of myself. Normally I am good at coding, but wires are difficult for me. My game functions, and I’m still continuing to work on my new game. And I’m already finished with a project known as the “5 Second Game”. I can’t wait for more work, and I’m excited to see what new things I can learn. Whatever may come, I’m eager to learn more!

I have created a new maze game, and I am disappointed in myself.

I have created a game called, Science Search. In this game, you walk around as a scientist, trying to get materials for creating a chemical compound. This chemical compound is known as benzene. The materials that you need to collect are an iron pipe, ethyne, salt, and sodium carbonate. Once you get all the materials, you win the game. There are losing conditions as well. There are chemical spillages throughout the map, and touching them, will be an instant game over. Then the major threat, the countdown. You only have 2 minutes to complete this, if not done before then, another instant game over will occur.

When I was first designing the game, I planned it to be better than the first one that I created. But once I had heard that it was a maze game, I thought about how I had already created one. The new maze had to be related to an educational subject, which my previous one was not. I set my goals high, but sometimes something is too high to reach.

My idea was that you would go around a science lab, searching for materials. Once all the materials were found, you would win the game. Another part of it, was when the character would move around, they would face the way they are walking. The final one was to create an explosion when the countdown reaches zero, and you would lose the game. I was able to do everything, except for the third one, because of a coding issue.

Something that really drew me back was creating my own sprites for blocks. Because there was nothing I could use except for two tiles in the gallery, it was hard to make a good looking map. Like most people, I claim that I am not good at art. There is no “however”, I really am bad at art.

A problem that I had while creating it, was the point system. Each time you would reach a lab material, you would get a point. But you could get the same material again and again, for the entire game. I did this by making fake tiles. I had done this before in my previous game “Dungeon Fall“, so now once you get a material, you can’t get it again.

The game might seem difficult, but there are workarounds. If you are trying to get one material, you might find chemical spills. You could go that route, risking a game over, or you could spend a little more time, going to a safe and alternate route. This is what balances the game, which is why I will not change the difficulty.

The map in Science Search is a lot smaller than the one in Dungeon Fall. In Science Search, I had 1024+ tiles. In Dungeon Fall, I had 3200+ tiles. The difference is huge. I could have put more effort into this game, if I could make it my own. The reason I worked harder on the last one, was because I was making a different game than my classmates. But when we all had to do the same game, I felt I couldn’t do something unique and amazing. This is why I like to do things where I can make whatever I want to.

The game could be better, but I’ve decided to leave it in it’s current state. This is the final, and there was never a beta, unlike my previous game. In my own time, I’m creating a new game. This game will remain a secret until it is ready for it’s beta testing. But I would like to introduce you, to Science Search…

So, I created a game and oh my goodness this was hard…

Let’s get right into it. For our CSAI class, we had to create a game. Most people focused on a tutorial game called “Pizza Chase” and made their own version of it. They have edited it so that it is more challenging and fun. Though as you’ve seen the “Most” being underlined you can see what I’m going towards. I took a game called “Simple Extensions” and turned it into a masterpiece (Just my opinion, it is not a masterpiece).

By now, you’ve read a fair amount of posts, you can now draw an idea of what I mean when I say “Pizza Chase”. So when I saw Simple Extensions, I completed the tutorial and thought that I could make this so much better. The tutorial is what sparked my candle to create more and more which eventually lead to my game called “Dungeon Run”.

When I started, I had very high hopes of what I was capable of. About a fifth through finishing it, I realized that I can’t complete this during class. There is absolutely no way I could, so I worked on it at home. Something that really set me back was my own determination to make an amazing game.

The first thing that I wanted to do was experiment with what I was able to do. At first, I knew nothing at all, but as I kept looking at the blocks of data, it became more clearer. I wanted my game to be like Zelda (The first game) and take place in a dungeon. Then I thought, “Okay, so I’m able to do this, but it would take about a year or ten so no thank you”. At the end of my creation, I was proud of the work that I had put into it.

When I asked my friends to test the game, they asked me why it was just a yellow dot and not like a person. Well for one thing I’m not very artistic, and many people consider themselves to also not be good at art. I get that, and I am feeling your pain. But also there’s a real answer to why I made a yellow dot and not just a character. The yellow dot was small enough to fit between where you needed to go, and also the size of it was perfect. If I had made it bigger, then it wouldn’t be able to fit on the map. I had used the blocks of the map at my disposal and not my own because once again, I’m not very good at art. If the character was too big, it would run into the obstacles and instantly die. (Speaking of instantly dying, just for a laugh, I made it so that if you press “z” you instantly die).

Using the blocks from the dungeon section, I created a map. However, on the map, I also experimented with other blocks such as forest and aquatic. Using blocks, if you overlap certain blocks you will lose. I had a lot of complaints about how it is impossible at a certain point. There are blocks that are completely black but are also not the same block. One of those is fake. Use this tip if you’re stuck.

Now that I’ve talked a long time about the game, time for you to play it.

For my first blog, I have decided to tell you about myself. There will be many blogs to come, and go (But mostly come in). Two days ago, I’ve finished a major project in CSAI and I would love to tell you about it in a later post. What I want to do, is make you excited to read my posts. Not just a teacher telling you to read posts because you don’t want to. But to actually read them and want to read. Now then, let’s get on with it.

First of all, I like to make a lot of jokes. And when I say I like to make jokes, I mean a lot. The reason for this is I like to make others laugh. I like others to be happy like me. Even though I have a mask on during school, there’s always a smile under that mask.

For my interests I would have to say I like strategy games. By strategy games I don’t mean like Risk or Chess, I mean video games. And because of this, I’m also drawn towards Star Wars. Star wars has always been a big part of my life and family. Even though it scientifically makes sense, I still really enjoy it.

When I started to write this I thought that I would write a lot more, but I have decided that I should just keep it at three paragraphs for now. Thank you for actually reading my blog, and I plan to write many times better than I have now.

–Lucas Marcotte

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