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Apologies for the lateness. I thought this was due Monday at noon 😦

Melissa Rose

Natasha Hlinka

We met in person to have our meeting. We decided our game is going to be about a vampire slayer, Magdalena, and the mission of the game is to kill the master vampire, Katerina, who is located in Vatican City. Enemy of Dusk will take you through the southern portion of Italy until you finally make it to Rome where Vatican City is located. Along the way you will need to acquire 3 items, a special wooden stake, enchanted garlic and a saw. You will also have the opportunity to befriend certain creatures. You will meet certain creatures along the way to help you, but you must be careful and watchful of what they say and do.

Melissa will be doing most of the writing for the story as well as making the dependency chart for this game.

Natasha will be doing most of the coding and game making as well as making the flowchart.

We met in person to have our meeting. We decided our game is going to be about a vampire slayer, Magdalena, and the mission of the game is to kill the master vampire, Katerina, who is located in Vatican City. Enemy of Dusk will take you through the southern portion of Italy until you finally make it to Rome where Vatican City is located. Along the way you will need to acquire 3 items, a special wooden stake, enchanted garlic and a saw. You will also have the opportunity to befriend certain creatures. You will meet certain creatures along the way to help you, but you must be careful and watchful of what they say and do.

Melissa will be doing most of the writing for the story as well as making the dependency chart for this game.

Natasha will be doing most of the coding and game making as well as making the flowchart.

Story #1

Plot: You are a real witch in 1692 Salem, and you must figure out how to survive the Witch Trials. Neighbors are accusing neighbors left and right, and as a town hermit, you know it is a matter of time until you too are accused. Some paths in the story will lead you to survival, while others will end in you being hanged or burned at the stake.

Characters: The player, Salem townsfolk (including some real names like the Proctors, Tituba, and judges Sewall and Corwin)

Theme: Adventure, fantasy (based on real-life event), survival

Setting: 1692 Salem. Some of the story will take place in the town, a colonial American setting, and some will take place in your home, a secluded witch’s cottage.

Style: Formal writing because of the inclusion of several historical names, events, etc.

Story #2

Plot: You awake in a clearing in the woods. As you try to navigate out of the woods, you encounter many creatures and cryptids, some of which want to help you, some of which want to trick you.

Characters: You (the player), various mythical creatures (fairies, sirens, centaurs, etc.), various cryptids/monsters (like Bigfoot, maybe?)

Theme: Fantasy, adventure

Setting: Thick, lush woods in an unknown place. There are streams, waterfalls, caves, etc. to explore.

Style: A bit formal, will read like a book with lots of description and scene setting, rather than casual or conversational (like how Trash King was).

Story #3

Plot: You are cursed by an old witch and are stuck in the body of a cat. You must figure out how to convince somebody that you are human and help you break the curse.

Characters: The player, the evil old witch, several humans, including the one who will ultimately try to help you

Theme: Fantasy

Setting: In a city for part, perhaps in an old castle or cottage for another part

Style: More informal and casual, including humor

For years, Nintendo’s Animal Crossing franchise/IP has held a special place in my heart. I was first introduced to the franchise around 2003, when I got my first gaming console, the Nintendo GameCube, for Christmas. Knowing nothing about it, I purchased the original Animal Crossing because 6-year-old me was intrigued by the cartoon animals on the cover.

The premise of Animal Crossing and its following titles (AC: Wild World for DS, AC: City Folk for Wii, AC: New Leaf for 3DS, and now, AC: Pocket Camp, an iOS phone game) is that you, the player, are the only human living in a village of animals. The player can catch fish in the stream or ocean, hunt for bugs, and pick fruit off trees, all of which can be sold at the town shop in exchange for bells (in-game currency). With bells, the player can upgrade their house, purchase furniture, and, in the newer games, the player can build structures throughout the village, such as new shops, benches, street lights and bridges.

Your village can have up to 10 random animal villagers at a time, although villagers frequently move in and out. Today, Animal Crossing has around 400 unique villagers, all with semi-unique personalities (Some are cranky, some are snooty, some are jocks, some are neutral, etc.). In addition, there are many “special characters,” which are non-villager NPCs, like the racoon that runs the town shop, the pelican that works at the post office and the skunk that runs the shoe store. Throughout the franchise, the villagers and special characters are the same, which allows the player to grow fond of the animals. I, for example, have a figurine in my room of the mole who pops out of the ground the scream at you if you try to quit without saving. When I was little, he used to terrify me, but over 10 years later, I find him funny and endearing.

Although several features have changed throughout the games, one main consistency is that all games operate in real time. If you play at 8:00AM real time, it will be 8:00AM in the game. If crafting an item takes one hour, you’re going to have to wait an entire real-world hour. While some may not like this element of the game, to many Animal Crossing fans, this is what makes AC special. It makes you want to play every single day, because there are new things to do each day. It also makes the game hard to binge-play; I typically play for one hour each day, as this gives me enough time to talk to all of the animals, catch all the fish/bugs, visit the shop, etc. Playing for any longer than that gets boring.  

To a gamer who prefers high-intensity games like shooter games or structured quest-based games, Animal Crossing may seem boring and mundane. However, I (as well as many other AC fans) see Animal Crossing as a way to escape from everyday life. I joke all the time that I wish real life was like Animal Crossing; how great would it be if you could make a living by collecting ever-abundant fruit and fish?! The villagers are kind to the player and often give you presents, invite you over their house, and give you advice. I enjoy how easy and mundane the game is, and it becomes more and more rewarding the more you play, as your village and house become exactly how you want them to look.  

Another thing I love about the Animal Crossing franchise are all the little details put into the games. The game celebrates real-life holidays, and if you play on Halloween, for example, the player can dress up and go trick-or-treating. On your birthday, the villagers hold a surprise birthday party for you and present you with a gift. On random days, a fortune teller will come to town, and will read your fortune for a few bells. Early on Sunday mornings, a pig comes to sell turnips, which the player can “eat,” or sell for profit. In the older Animal Crossing games, a mysterious message-in-a-bottle may wash up on shore, containing strange notes from far away. In the winter, villagers may put Christmas lights on their houses and trees. All of these little things make the game fun and sometimes unpredictable, giving Animal Crossing its charm.

Beyond the games, the Animal Crossing IP includes Amiibo cards (like trading cards for each villager), figurines and toys, etc.

The AC Wiki is: https://animalcrossing.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_Crossing_Wiki

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.