Month: March 2017

Interactive 2: Documentation and Progress II

21 March 2017

Concept refinement

Current project direction/idea:

Four players will interact with each other as well as the computer to create sound in a dark room. There will be a total of 4 computers, each with four colors corresponding to a certain instrument or beat. Players have to mover near to the computer to trigger faster beats and further to trigger slower beats. The player can switch lanes to trigger a different instrument on another computer.

Project prototyping

We will be researching on patches that can track colors to trigger audio output as a starting point for our project.

This is one of the videos we found on that talks about tracking specific color that will lead to sound.

*Update* We tested out the patch, and it works. The reading was not very accurate because there are a lot of surrounding light that affects it. Once we have a more refined patch, we will be testing it in a place that has limited light. 

28 March 2017

Project prototyping 

Once we get the color tracking system to work (hopefully), we will be exploring and experimenting with a different combination of sounds.

The following are some of the sounds we are looking into.

We feel that using everyday sound to create music is an exciting area we can explore.

Chinese classical music is another aspect that we feel is an intriguing area that we can work on.

04 April 2017

Project prototyping 

Finalize on the audio output. 

Recording of the audio output. 

Booking of room for the project presentation. 

11 April 2017

Final build

Project documentation.

User testing.

18 April 2017

Final presentation 

18 April 2017

Final OSS submission

Interactive 2: Documentation and Progress I

THE PURPOSE OF SOUND

For our project, we are looking into experimenting with sound. We feel that sound is an interesting element that we constantly overlook due to its abundance existence in our life. As sound is a non visual element, We feel that it is a favorable circumstance for us to use our other senses other that our sight which we so depend on, to feel and appreciate the spaces around us. In the process, we hope to gain fresh realization on our reaction of sound by our body. Therefore, we want to use this opportunity to have an interaction with sound free of any outside distraction. We want to find out about the significance of sound and its purpose in our daily life.  

The following are some videos that give a rough idea on the type of interaction we are looking into and hope to achieve. 

 

Narratives for Interaction Sharing: The Walking Dead

Since my project is on creating a narrative based game, I had been researching and looking into games that have the similar components. And I feel that The Walking Dead series by Telltale Games will be an interesting sharing.

It is a zombie survival game. However, it does not priorities the action and problem-solving qualities like many other survival games. Instead, players are exposed to the engaging narrative and character development of the game. Through playing the game, players will grow personal connections with the in-game characters. I feel that Telltale Games did an excellent job in providing the quality story line that keeps the players engage and at the edge of their seats.

During the game, players have to make choices. Some of the choices are pretty straight forward while others will put players into moral dilemmas. To add on to the challenge, there is the time limit for players in making their choices giving them the real-time problem-solving experience. These decisions will later affect the outcome of particular events or the fate of individual characters. Therefore, I feel that it provides the players with a legitimate experience of trying to survive in a world filled with danger.

Narratives for Interaction: Documentation and Progress IV

PROJECT OCCUPATION

Goh Cher See | Nicholas Makoto | Zhou Yang

After discussion, we felt that the cut scenes describing the story is too long and is going to take up too much of our time. Hence, we decided to trim down on the number of scenes involved which will make our story more concise.

The Battle of Malaya which directly led to the attack on Singapore will be cut. The story line of the game will start directly during the retreat of the British into Singapore.

We decided to add in the event of the British surrendering to the Japanese as we feel that this is a crucial point in the history of Singapore. It shows us that we cannot depend on foreign power to protect the sovereign of our country.  

We also decided to focus on refining the endings of our game. The element of the family will be emphasized. Different decisions made by the player during the game will affect the fate of their family members. Any questionable decision made by the player will result in their death. We want to carry the massage that there is no winner or loser in war, just families broken and devastated. 

Revised game flow and the sequence of cut scenes for the story.   

Moving Forward:

We will continue to refine the story of the game. There are still parts that can be more concise to cater to the fact that we do not have much time left. However, at the same time we are making sure the quality of the story will not be affected. 

We are starting to materialize our game by experimenting on the starting portion of the game. We are also testing out different background music and different art styles to fit the overall narrative experience of the game. The game mechanics of the game is also something we are tackling. We are trying to figure out how to run the interaction between the playing character and the in game characters. 

 

Narratives for Interaction: Documentation and Progress III

PROJECT OCCUPATION

Goh Cher See | Nicholas Makoto | Zhou Yang

We did research on the relevant parts of the history of the Japanese Occupation of Singapore that we want to present in the game. Throughout the research, we learned about events and happenings that we were previously not aware of. One of the examples will be the Battle of Malaya. We always see the Japanese invasion of Singapore as a stand alone event. However, before the attack on Singapore, the Japanese and British fought a series of battles in Malaya. These are parts of the history that were often overlooked when people take about the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. Therefore, we hope to include these parts forgotten history into our game. 

The plan of including the Battle of Malaya into the narrative part of the game. 

We mentioned on the previous post regarding the ending being influenced by the choices made by the players during the game. We are hoping to show how the ending of the game affected the lives of the people of the present time in the game. For example, a character is alive because of a decision that the player made during the game. He/she gets to live to present day Singapore, and he/she feels the impact of the painful memories. Through these emotional struggles shown by the victims of the war, we hope the players can understand and reflect on the effects of war and the loss of freedom on people.

Therefore, we are looking at the possibility of including a portion of the narrative on a scene about the memorial service at the Civilian War Memorial. We hope that this will make the players feel the significance and the impact the Japanese Occupations had on the lives of many Singaporeans and their future generations.

We also started looking into the gameplay elements of the game. We feel that it will be challenging for us as we have limited knowledge on game engines and time is of the essence. We are planning to create some simple yet meaningful game mechanics which allows the players to have an engaging gaming experience. We hope we will be able to work some magic with the limited resources and knowledge we have. 

Moving Forward:

We will continue to refine the story line as we feel the flow is not in sync with what we have in mind. At the same time, we will be gathering resources to start building our game. We will look into tutorials and relevant materials needed to get the ball rolling.  

Narratives for Interaction: Documentation and Progress II

PROJECT OCCUPATION

Goh Cher See | Nicholas Makoto | Zhou Yang

For this project, we decided to focus heavily on the narrative aspect of the game as we want our players to understand the pain and suffering our forefathers went through during the Japanese Occupation. Therefore we decided to pay close attention to the cut scenes and the story flow of the game. At the same time, we are also careful not to turn the game into merely a narrative story but neglecting the game elements of the game. 

The front portion of the game, we are planning to run two-time lines at the same time. The game will be switching between modern time and the period during the Japanese Occupation. We want to emphasis that the happenings in the past will have its effect on the present. 

For the ending of the game, we intend to allow it to be influenced by the choices that the players made on the earlier stages of the game. We hope that through implementing this type of game play, it will allow the players to have a personal connection with the game. We want to make them feel the choices that they made in the game matters. 

Moving forward:

As the rough structure of the game is settled, we will be moving towards materializing the game by working on the game art and mechanics. We will continue to refine story line so it can best reflect the message we want to sent to our players without feeling too draggy.