Digital Representation

We also have completed a digital representation of our game to demonstrate the look and feel of our game. This video shows many basic elements of our game including the basic actions such as walking, jumping, performing actions (hitting levers), pushing blocks, etc. Another key element to our game that is shown is the communication aspect aka the signage. We've decided to use signs that we train the player to use instead of already created universal signs. We have decided to do this are to keep the interface simple instead of cluttering it up with signs.

Without further ado:
http://www.sfu.ca/~ddh2/iat403/allnightershd_digitalrep.swf

Week 11 update

So for this week, we ran another user feedback session.

It still is the same paper prototyping done the week before, but with some minor modifications. Some of the bigger problems that were most apparent and quick to fix we addressed immediately for our next paper prototype feedback session.

Our instructor and TAs have suggested a user feedback session similar to a focus group where only words and ideas are exchanged. In a way we did go one step further with the paper prototypes only because we felt that it would be effective.

either way, we've included at the bottom a collection of screen captures from our test session as well as some more brainstorming after the feedback we had recieved from this week's board crit.

The test results, which include the questionnaires and interviews we aren't allowed to share with the public, as we had stated in our consent forms.

We also did some research on other 2d puzzle games, mostly in the form of flash. We used these as references and inspiration in terms of game mechanics, presentation style and how they two of them fit and work together. We went through about 10 different puzzle games, most of them weren't very relevant except for two. One was called rock guardian and the other called boxmen. We've taken screenshots as a means of documenting it for future reference.

Week 10: Planned User Event PDF

Here is the link to our Planned User Event PDF.

http://www.sfu.ca/~mfa4/IAT%20403%20Event%20Details.pdf

week 9 update

One of the things we did this week was take one of the levels that we had brainstormed previously and visualized it and experienced with some of the artistic styles that we may want to adopt.

The top image is the original and the second image is the refined (visualized) version of what it might look like as a final level.

The 3rd to 8th image represents our current interface iteration.







Image 1: Here a black and a blue character are working together.

Image 2: The black character presses one simple button to bring up a dial of 8 icons around his character and selects the message he wants to convey using the mouse as a selection tool.

Image 3: After choosing his action, he must then choose out of the 4 available colors to specific which of the 4 characters this message is for. (black, blue, red, green)

Image 4: A 3rd and final step requires the user to click on the direction or area of interest that this message/icon pretains to.

Image 5: Finally this icon/message is displayed over the user character's head for all other users to see.

We have also done some additional brainstorming for level/puzzles.

week 8 midterm update

First and foremost, apologies for the tardiness of this post. We had some difficulties with our login info, namely our password. Regardless, This week's update is to mainly submit many of the puzzles we had brainstormed. Some of these were taken with my cell phone camera, others are on another member's digital camera, which we will have on here as soon as possible. He is currently VERY busy with 338 (he always is actually). Hence the delay.

These are some of our processes experimenting with different types of contraptions, puzzles, level combinations, story, background, and difficulty.

Week 5 update

Journal update:

We got together on Monday thanksgiving. Yes on thanksgiving. Thank you very much. We brainstormed pretty intensively. We can proudly say it DID pay off. We came up with an idea that impressed most of us. It seemed promising. We worked hard to invent a second concept, but we struggled to invent something else that was equally good and drastically different. For now we have decided to focus on this one good idea we've landed and fully develop it.

After the brainstorming session we delegated tasks to our team members as follows:

Jason: blog update and presentation preparation.
Danny: presentation slides
Michael: Sketches
Paul: functional description of our concept
Mark: conceptual description of our concept

(we had planned under the impression that an in lab presentation was due this wednesday in week 6 until we recently received Ken Zupan's email notifying us otherwise.)

Below are the details of our project:
- Funtional aspect
- Conceptual aspect
- Brainstorm map
- Sketches
(We are currently waiting for other members of the team to finish their portion, which will be updated on here as soon as it is available.)

Functional Aspect:

- Users with different cultural and language backgrounds collaborate with one another to solve group puzzles using only body language and signs.

- Randomly connects people from all over the world.

- Will be presented using a two dimensional platforming game.

- To be implemented in Flash.

- Users can select a limited number of signs from a collection of many before starting their puzzle. These signs along with avatar emotions and gestures will act as the only means of communication. The limited number of signs will introduce a level of difficulty forcing users to intelligently select their set of signs as these decisions can greatly impact their ability to communicate later on.

- Emotion is presented through the avatar either with dynamically changing facial expressions or a floating text-bubble like form hovering over the avatar's head.

- The goal is to explore the possibilities of breaking cultural, language, and physical barriers by immersing users in a virtual world where language is non-existent and communication has taken a very basic, visual, and universal form.

- Compatible with PCs and Macs.

Conceptual Description:

Elevator Pitch:

Our project is a computer game in which randomly matched players work together to solve puzzles, bringing forth a discussion about the idea of collaboration beyond language and cultural barriers.

Experience Properties:

Experience: In the game, every player is unable to talk using verbal or written means. This makes the experience different every time a party of players attempt to solve a puzzle. The experience the players will have will depend on the how they work together as a team. The experience that players can have will range from amusement to anger or frustration.

Sensory Input: The user will be responding to the images, characters and environmental elements on the screen. In terms of input, the player will be using their keyboard and mouse in order to interact with the game’s environment and players.

Action: The game itself is a puzzle/adventure game in similar style to that of Super Mario Bros. where a party of up to 4-5 players work together to solve puzzles. It allows the users to play a game from their computers where in the end will raise a discussion about collaboration and how we can collaborate with others beyond language and cultural barriers.

Context: The context of the game is about play, while the same time cultural and social.

Week 4 update

So for week 4 we've got a few brain storming sessions as well as the mentor meeting presentation prep we did in class on wednesday.















This is a photographic documentation of a simple brainstorming session we did.

http://www.sfu.ca/~jtshen/iat402/week4/PDF_allnighters2.pdf

(The above is the link to our week 4 presentation slides.)

Weekly Journal #3 (Sept. 23 - Sept. 30)

This week we focused on brainstorming project ideas. We met with each other on Saturday (Sept. 26) and began generating ideas for our project. We started with what each of us wanted to do and it came down to a video or a game. From there, we narrowed it down to what kinds of videos or games that we could (or want) to make.

Our group wants to create a project for IAT 402/403 that is not simply a project made from students in the Media Arts stream or simply a project from students in the Design stream; our goal is to merge those two streams together. Design helps send a message to people and Media Arts is the creation of devices for people to use. An idea for our final project is to create either a video or game that not only invokes the feeling of joy to the user, but also sends them a message.

Here is an audio sample of part of our weekly meeting.

That concluded our meeting for the week. We then assigned each member some work for this week's assignment:

Danny - write this week's journal entry
Mark - organize notes and post them on the web page
Michael - post recording of our brainstorming session
Jason - revise mentor document
Paul - create mentor blog

Mentor Matching Document

Here is our team's Mentor Matching Document.

September 22nd journal update

Week 1:
This week we created our group with the following members:
Jason Shen
Danny Ho
Mark Fussell
Michael Paraninfi
Paul Shih

Our first meeting was on Saturday. We all brainstormed our team's strengths and weaknesses to create our concept map of the skills that our group possesses. This exercise helped us figure out what kind of projects are possible with our skill-set and what is beyond the limits of our group. After that we took pictures of each other to put on the team web site. From there, we talked about what our goals of the group are in this project and the answer that we came up with is that our finished product should look good and we are determined to make that happen. We also do not wish to create a product that solves any worldwide problems, but want to create a product that people can enjoy and have fun with. From these two goals, we created our team name: "All Nighters HD" and our mission statement: "We are willing to stay up all night... and look good while doing it!" Another requirement of the first assignment was to create a visual representation of our team logo and we decided to create a pretty wacky movie poster to illustrate what our team is about.

After that meeting was over, we assigned work amongst each other:
Jason - create web site and team logo
Michael - create movie poster
Paul - help with web site
Mark and Danny - create poster


Week 2:
We met on Sunday to work on the assignment together. The mentor list was printed out and divided amongst the 5 of us. From there we narrowed down the list until all of them could help our group in some way. We then voted on which mentor we wanted to put on the list of 5 mentors.
In the end, it came down to the following 6 mentors:
#1 - Diane Gromala
#2 - Mark Fromson
#3 - Jacqueline Antalik
#4 - Zerlina Chan and Anne Yeo
#5 - Bernhard Reicke
#6 - Sean O'Reilly

After that, we brainstormed on what direction our group should be heading in. We are still undecided on the topic, but we came out with a couple of ideas of what we should do, which include: zombies, explosions and flying. Most of our group prefer to have something video based and we were questioning the possibility of a game. Looking at our skill set, we agreed that we do not have the capability of creating a realistic 3d game. After our brainstorming, we ended our meeting and assigned the following tasks to each group member:

Danny - create journal entries and do write ups on mentor #3 and #6 on our list
Jason - update web site and do write ups on mentor #1
Michael - do write up on mentor #5 and tweak our movie poster
Paul - work on the mentor document
Mark - work on the mentor document

Team Skills

The first picture is a detailed list of our individual ratings. They are categorized and each member is rated from 1 to 3. 3 being the best in the group, 2 being average, and 1 being below average. If an individual's name does not appear in a category, it means they have zero or minimal experience with said skill. The categories start with technical skills and slowly transition to intangible skills during the second half.

The second picture is a list of group skills that every member in the team knows some of. The names to the right of the image indicate our own precieved area of specialization.

Team Mission Statement

Our team mission statement:

"Willing to stay up all night... and look good while doing it."

Our mission statement says a number of things about our group:

1. Our determination, as much as we would like to avoid all-nighters, we are willing to in order to deliver.

2. Our appreciation for a little bit of humor. We want to work hard but we will also find a fun way to approach things. We understand that being able to do this will help greatly with team determination and morale along the way through those long gruesome hours curled infront of a computer.

Team Vision

We have chosen to make movie posters for a fictitious movie title that suggested our team's mentality and mission statement. We would like to clarify that the team name we chose DOES NOT mean we leave everything until the night before the deadline. As a matter of fact, we would prefer to avoid ANY all nighters and to stay on top of our schedules at all times.

Group Image

This here would be our group photo. It may look a bit odd seeing as this was taken in the green screen room, but with proper context it makes much more sense. This leads us to our team vision which will appear in the following update.

Team Logo

Team Members

Our Team members from top to bottom are:
Mark Fussel, Jason Shen, Paul Shih, Danny Ho, and Michael Paraninfi