Month: March 2008

Considering the various class assignments this semester, which problems have you identified in your design process? In other words, what were the biggest barriers that prevented you from accomplishing what you’ve hoped you could? Where there particular assignments that were more difficult then others? If so, which factors caused this? Discuss the relationship between the creative process, your personal work habits, and technical skills.

this may seem a bit dramatic, but the design process i’ve adapted seems to lack general foundation / direction. if i had a more specific background, a particularly strong skill set, or programming knowledge, i think my difficulties would be fewer. i do appreciate my interdisciplinary / unusual background, but it’s a challenge to pull things together in a cohesive way. a temporary obstacle i’ve been experiencing is related to time management, but moreso an actual lack of available time to manage.

i think the creative instinct in me tends to run through all kinds of memories and mental images and senses, scanning for something bright or interesting. it’s very open-ended and hazy, like a dream. (birds, particle systems, streaming things…foggy lights, and buckets of color, fluid movements.. elegant and curvacious women… rich nights with soothing rhythmic vibes and .. let me stop, cause i don’t know where this is going, but i know there must be patterns in there).

my personal work habits are basically the opposite. they are concrete and much more organized. i make lists. i use calendars. i love maps. planning ahead usually gives me comfort, and i will spend hours on a task overlooking sometimes food or rest.

the skills i have are pretty basic –html and processing, some photoshop… i’m trying to get a grip on php, sql, and flash this semester. my social skills aren’t really technical, but i feel they’re more developed for whatever reason. i try to connect these areas to make some sort of sense. i continuously want to contribute to a greater, big-picture good, while being conscious of a practical need to survive/live comfortably. external v internal drive.

so it seems, i need to be able to hone in on a subject, a project, and feel it’s worth the time and energy to explore and complete. i need more hard skills. i need a more efficient system, a network.

the assignments in this class have revealed pieces of the design process and ways of thinking of it. i wish i had documented more so through the course of the semester (i think i didn’t because the blog i’m writing in seems temporary and i feel very little ownership of it), but overall i think the concepts i’ve taken at this point are to seriously consider scope and audience of a project first, user test prototypes asap, know strengths and weakness and act accordingly to bring an idea to a final state. i was reminded that i like to use my hand to sculpt objects. i reinforced that i need more time to understand coding structures. i realized that my career path really needs to change directions now. time again is running out.

Propose a final project that will address the issues mentioned above. Describe in detail what you hope to achieve through this project, and the steps that you think are necessary for you to take in order to succeed.

in retrospect, i think continuing with my game could actually address these issues. i will extend my network, since i’m sure i’ll run into more tech difficulties. i will get user feedback, which will inform design decisions. i will further my understanding of mda and ingrain it into my process. i won’t need to begin the “what-should-i-do” brainstorm phase from scratch, so i already have focus, and this product could be marketed and mass produced.

steps: 1) make each of these steps more precise and give an actual deadline. 2) expand search for similar games. 3) get help w the functionality of the gameplay. intro scene, scoring limit and asynchronous actions, end scene. 4) improve prototype of controller. 5) user test to decide which visual elements are good/bad and how the controller feels. 6) revise animations, rewards, controllers.

_addendum: steps 1-3 can be combined into one week. the user test can be 1 person. i can expand to a second person also. the aim can include motivation to eat and to exercise lungs/body, as opposed to working in staring, static position.

Interaction design as means for behavior modification: Write a short blog entry about how the interaction design of an everyday device/system affects the behaviour and social patterns of its users. Do you approve of the behavioral patterns that the device imposes? If not, how would you redesign the device towards a healthier user behavior and habit?

my streams of thought so far have included big, sort of far-reaching systems with smaller tangent pieces slightly attached. they are mainly tied to ideas around designing for routines with which i take issue: a static office environment, public transportation, acquaintance etiquette .. i dunno, i need to organize my thoughts more and revise this, but i like the direction that this train of thought points me.

Mechanics: The rules and materials that the game is made of.
Dynamics: The real time events that take place when a player engages the mechanics.
Aesthetics: The state of mind and emotional engagement that the player experiences as result of the Dynamics.

MDA for BURBUJITAS (little bubbles)

Mechanics:
there are 2 players and each player controls an onscreen/flash character w one switch. the objective is to win the ice-cream cone. a player wins by blowing bubbles. the combination of quantity and strength of the bubbles blown will determine the winner. 100 points wins the ice-cream. each min strenth bubble blown is worth 5 points. each max strength bubble blown is worth 20 points (and -5 points for opponent). bubble strenth can range from 5-20 points. each player has a bubble pipe with a ball attached. when the player blows into the pipe, the bubble meter will increase while the ball is floating. when the ball drops, the bubble will be blown. if a player blows more than X bubbles within X seconds, their character takes a nap for X seconds, giving the opponent “free time” to increase points without opposition. this has all to be coded successfully.

Aesthetics:
the intended areas are challenge, fellowship, expression, and sense pleasure. the background music, sound effect, controllers, and visual choices are targeted toward a young audience with simple cognitive and blowing abilities. the overall theme is one of innocent play with a brightly colored treat as the ultimate reward. the title suggests a spanish speaking audience. i selected it as an option after learning that bubble blowing is big a craze in the toy industry in mexico (right Anaid?).

Dynamics:
this involves opponent play and a time element to create a dual challenge and a sort of fellowship. the competitive nature or lack thereof from each player is a form of expression. choosing to blow few big bubbles or many smaller bubbles is an expression of technique. the blowing action is intended to add a physically challenging element to the game, that could cause players to become light-headed/dizzy and need a rest, shown by the character napping feature.

i still don’t have a game per se at this point. i have however learned to make “power” bars, include background music, and have sound effects. i also honed in on gameplay / goal concept that’s achievable and built a semi-working prototype for a controller. a lot of the readings were helpful, and the whole mda business is brand new to me, but logical and interesting. for next steps, if we aren’t assigned something specific, i want to give the readings a second pass, get the scoring and ice-cream reward happening, and have the characters actually compete instead of mirror each other. finally, although this game is definitely aimed at a junior audience, i’ve had a theme idea or two for more mature audiences around the same framework. see it here.

so i’ve taken the blowing bubbles idea and after reading through the “game prototypes in under 7 days,” i let my brain wander with ideas, i’ve come to grab some pieces that i think could maybe work together. i like the idea of soft, fluid, and shiny bubbles, combined with pressure, power, and popping. i’m thinking this game would be played by light gamers, such as someone at a boring desk job, or a parent (i.e. older folks) who might not want to get too invested in learning buttons/complexity. there are two childhood memories that came back 1) bubble bobble and 2) hungry hippos. i want to take components from these games and fit them into something i can achieve.

play bubble bobble online
read about bubble bobble

hungry hippos pic

i’m beginning to go through more flash examples/ tutorial, iand hope to get the software side going today. i’ve modified some images and started coding again. here’s a start that includes movement of the characters. my goal is to get “power bars” on the screen, and some interaction happening with the bubbles. i have a good idea of how i want the competition to work, with accumulation/capture/gravity themes in place, but i really don’t know if i’ll be able to make it happen on my own with time constraints and other responsibilities. also, i’ll try to handle the ipac-side tomorrow. hopefully it will be pretty simple. i got my hands on some soft wire and have a couple ideas for a switch. whether or not i can get my hands on those materials though is to be determined. that’s all for now…