Personality test results

Ta-dah, your personality type is INTJ!

Introverted (I) 57%	Extraverted (E) 43%
Intuitive (N) 68%	Sensing (S) 32%
Thinking (T) 95%	Feeling (F) 5%
Judging (J) 50%	Perceiving (P) 50%

Paper prototyping

Active Experimentation/what happened

Now gathering all the data we had working on this game for the past month and a half we created a paper prototype. For this prototype to work we finalised the story and how it would work and which pages would the player would need to go to.

Page 1 was the intro telling the story and what has happened.
Page 2 was a list of suspects, this was added a little later as we found out from early testing that having only one or two suspects did not offer much variety or a challenge. So for the prototype we increased the number of suspects to six three males and three females.
Page 3 scene of the crime.
page 4 shadow, kid, paint.
page 5 cafe, a piece of cheese two options available go to p 11 or p 9
page 6 bathroom, fuzz two options available go to p 14 or p 10
page 7 long hair, cafe or bathroom.
page 8 storage room.
page 9 roof tiny paw prints and invitation to basement two options available go to p 13 or p 6
page 10 shadow or bathroom
page 11 janitors closet, pot of gold (end)
page 12
page 13 basement, tiny mouse party (end)
page 14 who do you think it is options available page 15-20
page 15 -20 list of suspects only one is correct.


While we had a prototype of our story was completed and playable for the members of our group we had realised that other groups in our class were sometimes lost and/or confused. Now this was a big problem if others were finding it difficult at this stage then we needed to fix and add some new things. The paper prototype is the bare bone of what we envisioned as the final piece in our minds would of been clearer since it would have solid directions and also many illustrations to help guide the reader.

What needs improving

much clearer format we for this prototype we just used text maybe if we used diagrams and symbols on to where to go next and such. Also some drawings to show progress.

What now.

While some things did not work we had progress in other areas because now we have a story and pages set out so the basics work and if we sorted the faults this could very well work with no problems. Doing a prototype is always necessary because now we know our faults and what works and how we can go on and improve it, not only that but it also first time you actually see if this idea would work or not if it don't work on paper then it wont work where ever we end up taking it.

Now that we had actively experimented the game we found flaws this meant that we had to go back to reflective observation and pin point the games errors to find out where and when they were happening and to fix it.

Kolbs learning cycle was perfect for the situation it really helps plan out what we were doing and what we needed to do next. For example getting into groups brainstorming ideas having a experience then looking back finding out early how we work as an individual and as part of a group. It was effective to reflect not only very early on but every time we did something productive. Once we had everything set we added the objectives, procedures and rules in order to be able to have a playable game. Once we had everything set we experimented and we found our flaws but this expected as we don't know if it works till we test it.

Formal elements of our interactive book (Abstract Conceptualisation)

Now that we had a clear idea what our game was and who it was for this lesson we spent finalising the objectives, procedures and rules in order for it to be a proper functioning game. At this point we were much clearer how our game was going to work, all that was needed now is what each page is going to contain story wise.


Objectives, procedures and rules

What is the conflicts in my game?

Dead ends = when the player has taken the wrong path.
figuring who is the real criminal out of the six suspects.

what are the rules and procedures?

Player can not go back/backtrack, must start over
find the missing artwork
player must choose one of the either pages to carry on, this applies to all pages.

what actions do the players take and when?

players choose what page to move to each page will have 2 options in a total of 20 pages.
There will be image and written clues.

are there turns? how do they work?

no there are no turns since only one person can read it at once or be read to.

how many players can play?

one

how long does a game take to resolve?

depends on the readers skill level there is no time limit the player must choose wisely on what to do next.

what is the working title

detective Dan.

who is the target audience?

6-8 year old.

what platform will this game run on?

interactive story telling book.

what restrictions or opportunities does that environment have?

TBC

Lesson three Game 2 digital ver

While we wanted our first game to be a physical object we disscussed maybe going with the same idea we had for the first game but making it a flash game for Tate website.

On the site users can make account be able to customise it how ever they want e.g Gender, user name and Avatar. Users then can play as the detective trying to find the thief and the missing artwork. Top scores will be kept on the Tate website where other users can compare their avatars.

A virtual flash version of the Tate modern will offer both a more interactive approach to the game but also will have AI or more life to it than the book may offer.

Lesson three Game 1

working with last weeks group we had another chance to reflect on our work and develop it further.

Still going with the theme of a mother buying for her son.

six - eight year old likes exploring, single child

we wanted it to be an educational game.

interactive book (storytelling) idea is that it offers different routes and endings.

mother and child activity or can be read on their own.

the book is about a detective who is gone into the Tate to find the stolen Art.
---- To win both the thief and stolen objects need to be found
---- To lose player loses the thief and art work.

reader will be shown both images and text (this is how clues are given) and depending on where they want to go must follow on to the next page which will be at the bottom.

immersive experience with alternative routes and endings for 6-8 year old.


Feeling that I did not get much done the previous week I sat down with Dau and we started to develop on the story we had started the week before. This lesson i got a lot done and made sure I would participate as much as I could generating a lot of ideas. This lesson was a success we got a lot in a few hours. From the get go for this lesson we wanted to go with some sort of interactive book like the fantasy ones where the reader has options on what happens next originally we wanted it to be like a ebook reader digital format but went against it as it would be over the £100 limit.

Lesson Two (A new experience)

Working in a group we had come up with an game idea for the new Tate modern competition where the winners will get their idea sold in the Tate Modern shop. The Terms were that it had to cost between £10 - £100 to make and be sold at, competition winners win £500. The game idea had to include the Tate one way or another, as a group we came up with the idea of a mother looking for the perfect gift for her child inside the Tate shop its self. So it has to be something that child can play on their own and not be bored really fast.

we have updated our game one as an interactive book and second a digital idea.

http://sedar-b.blogspot.com/2010/01/lesson-three.html

http://sedar-b.blogspot.com/2010/01/lesson-three-second-game.html



This was my second experience working in a group for this project unlike the past group i would be in this group for the coming weeks. We were given numbers and people with the same number came together and and set up the group.

This method had its pros and cons

the pros were that i was now in a group with people i may have not chosen to work with if given the choice. But we in life will always have to work with people (even more in the gaming industry) we will always come across people who we get along with and others who we don't. This was a perfect way to get to know others better and increasing confidence.

the con was that I was a little lost in the begging letting others talk while taking the role of the listener.

Working in a group is great now you have more minds coming together and talking inputting their own ideas. This was excellent when coming up with ideas for our Tate game sure for this lesson we did not get much done we jotted down the basics about the mother and child but this was really helpful for the coming lessons we took this idea and added a lot more to it. Working with a bunch of people you can have one writing while another draws and such.

That being said working in a group has its problems every week a group member was missing now this causes much headache not only do they miss out on what's going on but the following week you must go back and recap. No matter what group I have been in there has always being people who do nothing but just sit there while only a few do the work.

this all in all was a great experience not only do you see your own strengths and weakness but you also learn where you can improve as an individual.

Lesson one part two become a tester

Game Testing: Demon souls

Demon souls is an hack n slash RPG with old school difficulty that was present in Ghosts 'n Goblins which seems absent with this generation of games. The players soul is locked inside the nexus which lies deep under the old kingdom. The goal for Demon souls is to kill three demons in each of the five different worlds this is to gain access to the king who has lost his mind and turned his back on his people. The five different worlds include Boletarian Palace, Stonefang Tunnel, Tower Of Latri, Shrine Of Storms and Valley Of Defilement.

Each world offers different types of enemies with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses so its normal to walk into one of the worlds and die from the first enemy. Game play is non-linear from the get go all five worlds are open to the player you can choose which one you want to play first. There are many challenges that players have to overcome such as building up fire, plague and poison resistance to lower the already high damage the enemies do. When stuck at a certain point of the it is recommend to enter one of the other worlds and collect better armour and weapon and revisit where ever you was stuck before.

The games currency is souls when you die ALL of the souls you have are dropped in a blood stain, if you make it back to your blood stain you can get all of your souls back. If you die again before you recover a blood stain all souls in that stain are lost. The problem with this is that these souls are needed to level up and buy goods and repair gear. For that reason the player needs to come up with tactics and strategy examples are do you spend the souls or do you revisit an area you are sure with collecting more souls and coming back and levelling one of the stats then going into a new world with little to no souls on the character so if you die then you wont lose much.

Demon Souls offers a very different type of online modes which I think lacks in many games in this genre. Players can invite others for help or invade others and kill them but what's new is that players can leave messages on the floor for others warning them about traps or about strong enemies that lay await. It might be a difficult game but overcoming them is what is so rewarding knowing that you have beaten a boss which a few hours ago would killed you just looking at you. It is important knowing the enemies types of attacks so you can avoid it this is why timing is important in Demon Souls.

What was new was that you could create a knight at the beginning of the game and halfway become a mage nothing was out of the players control. Playing I always had control on who and what I wanted to kill and leave surviving even the npc in the nexus who sold items or even the banker who holds your items.

Lesson one

working in a group we had to write down five aspects of our live we could be made into a game. Once everyone had five we categorised each activity, such as activities and hobbies. Using what we had written down we had to make up a story line for the game. Once we had a few ideas both groups swapped over one team member who would go over and look what the other group have done and from there that person could give feedback on what they thought of the game and see if they could improve it. Once the swapped members came back groups re-evaluate their game idea from the feed back they had gotten.

what the group contributed.

• Mountain climbing

• Paint balling

• Air Soft

• Drawing

• University

• Running the 'Bleep' test in P.E

• swimming

• Boxing

• Cooking at a barbecue

• travailing to America

• getting drunk

• music Rock

• getting lost and finding the way home

• Driving somewhere new

• Walking the Dog

• Relationships

• Cooking pasta

• Train travel

This exercise was important for both coming together and working as a team but also learning how to generate ideas starting from scratch.