Narratives for Interaction: Documentation and Progress V

PROJECT OCCUPATION

Goh Cher See | Nicholas Makoto | Zhou Yang

We were looking into the presentation of the story for the game. Due to time constraint, we are looking for a more efficient and concise way to tell our story to our players. We want to bring our message across to them in the shortest possible time so that the game flow will not feel draggy. 

The introduction portion of the game will be cut short. We feel that we do not have enough time to refine the story line to provide a good story telling experience for our players. Therefore, we look into alternative. 

We decided to tell the story through the medium of a file that keep track of the incident. Different parts of the game will be from the different parts of the documents. This is to emphasis the narrative element of the game. The game will be made up of memories kept in the document and unfold right in front of the players. 

This is the finalized game flow of our game. 

The different sound required for the different scenes in the game. 

The key scenes in the game.

Moving Forward:

With the game flow finalized, we will be focusing on materializing the game. The main problems we have is with game mechanics. We are have difficulties in getting in game interaction to run. But we are getting help from gaming forums and relevant people. 

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. 

Max Assignment 2: Tracker

The project


This max assignment aims to allow us to experience the technical steps involves in creating an eye tracking set up. A video is needed to be pre-recorded and imported onto Max. Using the functions of Max, a patch will be created to match the value of the face received through the webcam with the frames of the video. Through matching the values and the frames, the motion of the face will trigger the part of the video that corresponds to it. 

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The challenges and problems


It took me a while to understand the logic behind the idea of matching values of the face with the frames of the videos. However, the patch that I created is still technically lacking in many aspects. It is still affected by many conditions that my patch did not take into account. Very often, the motions of the face did not correspond to the ones in the video. The video also continued to loop when there was no face in front of the screen. The presence of multiple faces in front of the screen also affected the accuracy of the tracking. 

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The reflection


Through building up my patch for this assignment, I learned much more valuable technical knowledge. It was interesting in trying to figure out the values and its connections with the frames of the videos. The whole process of trying to get the set up to work was intriguing and satisfying. I start to slowly see the connection between the different commands and functions though there are still much more to learn. These assignments served as great exposures for me to understand and appreciate the capabilities of Max.


The documentation video for this assignment will be up soon. I am currently having some issues with premier pro. Such is life. 

Max Assignment 1: Magic Mirror

The project


This first max assignment aims to equip us with the relevant technical skills to create a mirror that dims itself when a person gets close to it. Through the process, it intends to expose us to the different aspects of Max and its applicable functions for future possibilities. 

The sensing of the face was done with the webcam. Through the values collected, we can calculate the size of the face. Hence, the distance between the webcam and the face can be determined as the nearer the face is to the webcam the larger the face will be.  

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The challenges and problems


To obtain the collect range of values for the face proved to be a challenge for me. This is crucial as they determine the brightness of the screen the user is interacting with. Through numerous experimentation, I realized the quality of the webcam is also important for this assignment. At times, my face cannot be detected and thus affects the transition of the brightness of the screen. The brightness transition of the screen was also affected when there are multiple faces appearing in front of the screen.

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The reflection


This is my first time experimenting with Max. It was very challenging for me as I was very confused with the different functions and how to join them together to perform various tasks. The responses provided by the console was of little help to me as my technical knowledge of Max is still limited. At times, I was aware of what are the steps that were needed to be performed to carry our certain task. But I was unable to execute it as I was not sure of the necessary commands. However, I feel that this is just a learning process I have to go through. I believe Max will create many possibilities for my potential future projects. 


The documentation video for this assignment will be up soon. I am currently having some issues with premier pro. Such is life.