Time Plan

Week  1 – create ideas within our group of game and characters aswell as back up idea’s in case of any problems (idea generation)

Week 2 – split the tasks between the people in our group and plan and begin our individual work.

Week 3 – look over the other members of the groups idea’s give feedback (positive and negative) and take the feedback to make the work better.

Week 4 – begin to form the work into a single file as the game begins to take shape and let us process and programming errors or other such problems we may encounter.

Week 5 – finalise the process of creating the game checking for flaws and making sure it is functional 

Week 6 – have a complete review of our game to make sure it works and that it can be played with no problems as well as blogging the work as we do it

Evaluation

What went well?

I think that the game was a good idea. It had a lot of potential and really emphasized the education aspect of the game which we wanted to get across. We knew that education was one of the most important aspects of the clients idea so we based our game around that. The character design was good and really brought the game together. We went for a simple cartoon style that would appeal to a younger audience. Byron was in charge of creating all of the characters you see in the game and made a good job of it. Also by giving the characters a simple bobbing animation, it made the screen feel more interactive.

Another thing that I think went well was the design of the game. By having the player help a fish form the aquarium made it feel more personal and made the player feel more involved making it a personal experience. Also the way that the game is scripted is good. It was challenging but defiantly made it all work together and made it fun.

What could be improved?

I think the way that the group planned to use their time could be improved. One of the main reasons that we were behind was because the task we had took on was rather large. We didn't know how much the coding would set us back. Also I didn't think the tasks set to us all were not completed on time. Some members of the group I don't think contributed as much putting us even further behind.

Looking back on it now I would have chosen a different idea, making it simpler to execute. This would have given us more time to do things like, blog work and graphics and touching up the game so it looked really nice. I would have also wanted to start scripting straight away rather than later.

What did I contribute?

My main task became scripting the game which I found difficult but i managed it by spending time with the tutor on it and also working a lot from home. I also created the background graphics using Photoshop and also had a hand in creating the graphics in the game because they were not finished in time for when i needed them. I also had a major part in planning the game by generating ideas and coming up with drafts. I think i worked well in the group by making sure everyone knew their own responsibilities and assignments so they wouldn't forget what they had to do. I also produced feedback from the client and analysed the assignment brief for everyone.

Summary.

Overall I think that there could have been a lot of improvements to work that was set to other members of the group. However i think that the character bios were good and also that the character design and animation was good. I was pleased with the way that Byron and I communicated and exchanged ideas and was happy with he way that Jordan completed his tasks with detail. However, i have to say that i think Jordan's part in the group was small. He did not complete task when set or show any initiative to help or ddo tasks without being told. Whilst myself and byron had tons of work to do he would happily not help and expect us to do it. I think that Byron and i would have done better if we had had some gelp form him as one of the biggest tasks he did was the chracter bios.

I think that the game works well for its purpose. The graphics and animation is good as well as the scripting and i would happily say that i was part of making it. I enjoyed parts of making the game however having know how much work was needed on the scripting I may have asked for more help or needed more experience in order to get the scripting done. I also think that Byrons part in the making the gaem was very good as well.

Character Bios

Name – Simon

Species – Lobster

Favourite food – Small Fish

Likes too – Walk sideways

Fun Fact – some lobster can live up to 100 years.

Name – Callum

Species – clown fish

Fav food – Leftovers

Likes to – swim in coral

Fun fact – clown fish live in schools of roughly one hundred

Name – marty

Species – tiger shark

Fav Food – large fish

Likes Too – swim and hunt

Fun Fact – Some sharks have  a small fish swimming under them to protect them from things that may eat them

Name – kashikoi

Species – octopus

Fav food – crab

Likes too – Open jars to get his  food

Fun fact – octopuses are highly intelegent

Name -ned
Species -starfish
fav food - algae
likes too - Stick to things
fun facts - Starfish like to be lazy and sticks to thing to hide from things that want to eat them

Name - Sparky
Species - Ell
fav food - small fish
likes too - swim in maze like caves
fun facts -ell's blend in to rocks well which makes them amazing hunters

Name - Jimmy
Species - Seahorse
fav food - Very small fish
likes too - Swim along the bottem of the sea on the sand
fun facts -  Sea horses tend to play in small groups

Name - herbert
Species - hermit crab
fav food - medium fish
likes too - Find new shells
fun facts - a hermit crab normally like to find bigger more pretty shells

Name -timmy
Species - turtle
fav food -small fish that are in groups
likes too - swim with his family
fun facts - turtles can live up to one hundred years

Name - Barry
Species - Baracuda
fav food - large fish
likes too- play hide and seek
fun facts - baracuda seem slow but when they hunt they are faster than a blink of an eye


Name - Jerry
Species - Jellyfish
fav food - Anything that comes his way
likes too- Float around
fun facts -Jelly fish have no bones so the sea's current makes them travil


Name - Steve
Species - Stringray
fav food - medium fish
likes too- sleep on the sand of the sea
fun facts -Stingrays only use their tails in self defence


Name -Buddy
Species - Butt Head Fish
fav food - crabs and shrimp
likes too- bumb into things

Name - jeggie
Species -ragged tooth shark
fav food - large fish
likes too- look scary
fun facts -this type of shark is one of the few with a hump

Drafts

Feedback From Client

We had a meeting with the client and presented them are main idea for our game.  During this presentation the client took on board all of our ideas and seemed to like them. We then asked if there was any feedback that she could give us and she raised a few points.

• Keep the 4 different zones idea, but have 4 different characters trying to get home.
• We would like to include sound in our game, for example voices. These files however can be very large and make are game have a huge file size. This therefore can lag the game. So until we find out the dimensions of the tablet device, we need to have some sound format management.
• If one day the aquarium is quite busy it might be quite hard to hear sound. Therefore we need to add subtitles just in case our voice cannot be heard. We can also add speech bubbles to make the subtitles look more in theme.
• Include the names of fish for example, Enzo the Shark
• Maybe incorporate a map so that players can find the NPC's
• We need to make sure that we randomize questions so that the game is slightly different every time it is replayed.

Responsibilities and Task Assignments

Byron

-Character Creation
-Scripting
-Research
-Aquarium Visits/Research

Jordan

-Animal Research
-Voice/Sound
-Aquarium Visits/Research
-Game Research

Jake

-Team Management
-Scripting
-Flash
-Animation

Analysing Client Brief

Kelsey was the client that met us at the National Marine Aquarium, and she gave us a run down of what she wanted us to produce. She gave us some valuable information that we noted down.

-Has to be education
this is one of the main aspects that our game has to cover. We need to be educating people about these animals and how we co exist with them. We need to teach people about how humans effect on the planet effects these fish.

-Needs to include personalities
There are many people that visit the aquarium regularly, in fact more people visit it regularly than a one time thing. This means that we have to incorporate what people see into our game. For example, people have favourite fish in the aquarium and know what they do and how they act. This means we have to incorporate these personalities into our game.

-On a tablet or android
we need to bear in mind that our game is going on a tablet device. This means that we need to make sure we have minimal file size so that the game runs smoothly.

-Charity
The National Marine Aquarium is big on charity. We need to make sure that we give the correct information to the audience about how to find out more about the charity and what the aquarium gives back to the community and the environment.

-Breeding Programme
The aquarium has a breeding tank which all the new born are kept in. They are very keen to make sure that they continue to generate more and more fish and make sure that they are cared for and healthy.

-Behind the scenes
People that came to the aquarium were interested in what happens behind the scenes of all the fish tanks. so the aquarium installed a laboratory which you can view whilst walking through one of the tanks. Here you can see into the laboratory and see what happens behind the scenes. We need to try and get this into our game so the audience know where it is.

-Environment
We need to make the audience aware of the environmental dangers of pollution. We need to make sure that we educate the audience into seeing the problems with water pollution and habitat destruction.

-Audience
Our audience was defined as needing to be usable by all ages. This means we need to make it fun and enjoyable enough for children but still be factual for adults. Also we need to make sure that the language we use can be understood by all ages.

Initial Ideas

1. Our first game idea would consist of a simple design to do with the habitat of our main character Snorkle. You would play as Snorkle and navigate around the NPC's to gather information and answer questions.

2. Our second idea was to have a large game area which consists of all the sections of the aquarium. This makes the game more involved with the aquarium. You would still interact with Characters and answer questions. 

3. Our third idea was to combine the first two ideas into one. We would have for sections to the game. Indicating the four different sections of the aquarium. You would progress to the next section Through a  transition screen and then play the next section until you get to the end of the game.

We chose to go with our third idea because we believe that it has the best chance to be an enjoyable and educational game.

Task One

Interactive Sound and Motion

Monoface

This is a website that I found called Monoface. Monoface is an interactive website which allows you to manipulate the image of a person just by clicking on a certain area of their face. For example, clicking on the nose will cycle through different noses that have been put on the webpage. This therefore allows you to make any combination of face. 

There are several different links on the website, one for information on what the site is about. A link to shuffle the face randomly, also there is a help link which tells you how to use the webpage. The interactivity of this website is easy to use however lacks design. The webpage is very clever and can keep you entertained but it is not something to spend hours on.

The way that the different sections of the face blend in is what makes the website a good website. The process of blending each of the individual interchangeable pieces together to make one whole picture must have taken time and skill. 

Over all this is a good example of motion in interactivity, however this particular website lacks audio.

String And Spin

This is an interactive Flash programme which you can find on many different websites. String and spin is a entertaining spirograph type animation where you can create some amazing images from drawing just a few line. The way that it works is you start with a blank canvas and click to draw several lines on the canvas. Then the code in the programme starts to spin your drawing. You then have the option to "spin your string" and this is where the programme does some kind of coding which makes the lines stencil as they spin. The longer that you leave the lines spinning, the closer the lines become.

What I really like about this flash file is that no matter how random you try to make your drawing, the drawing will always come out symmetrical because of the spinning mechanic in the programming. I showed it to a few of my friends and they were baffled by how fun it was but at the same time how simple it was. Although there is a lack of sound, it makes up for it for being digitally and visually entertaining.

Animation For Output Video Tape Or Streaming Web Movies

YouTube

This is YouTube. The worlds most popular social video sharing website in the world. And to become the worlds most visited website everyday they have to have a very good flash player. YouTube's flash player is simple, well designed, visually brilliant and easy to use.

Flash players are all provided generally by adobe. The adobe flash player is the universal video player over the internet and has constant updates to match the ever growing internet. 

YouTube's flash player includes the basic play/pause button, as well as volume controls. These are located on the tool bar at the bottom of the video player. YouTube has been able to upgrade and update its video player to suit it's users needs. For example, the interface has now got extra buttons like 3D, resolution display, video player size and annotations. All of these tools can be used by users to edit there video. The toolbar "auto-hides" if in full screen mode so that all of the video is displayed. And when the video is finished, the next interface appears and the play/pause button morphs into a playback button.

At the end of the video that is being played, another interface comes up which allows you to select another suggested video to watch. This is displayed as separate thumbnails in a number of different rectangles. By clicking these boxes, it will take you to a different webpage and to the selected video. 

Radio 1

This is the BBC One Radio webpage. You can access the live stream of the radio's broadcast via the flash player on the webpage. It is simple in the way that you use it as well as design. There is a simple play/stop button and a volume button. Because the stream is live however you cant skip back through the broadcast. There is options however to listen to different episodes of different presenters. Kind of like BBC iPlayer.

There are links to the Radio 1 Website which takes you to the home page of Radio 1. Here you can browse a variety of music and presenters. There is an option to change the bandwidth of the live stream. This is a good idea because it allows people of all internet speeds to listen to the radio live over the internet.

There is a graphic animation  on the flash player, this makes the webpage look a bit more interesting because it has dull grey colours.

Single-user games/quizzes for distribution on interactive learning and testing materials for distribution over the web or on CD. 

In one of the units that we did we conducted a safety quiz as part of the unit to pass it. In this test we were given multiple choice answers to click on and progress through the quiz. The quiz was very simply designed, I think the main reason for this was because the needed it to run on the simplest of computers. Or perhaps it was made quite a while back.


The scripting for this type of quiz is rather simple. It can be applied to a lot of quizzes that are made both past and present. A simple command that tells the multiple choice answer that if the correct one is clicked you can progress through to the next question or "scene".


There are also different graphics on each question. For example, some questions are visual, some questions are text and some are both. These graphics were vector based and very simple. An example of a graphic question was "Which seat gives you the least amount of glare form the sun?" and the graphic had three different computers situated in different positions around the room.

This is a children educational game I found on the internet. There are many different educational games for children that we can use as research. One of the most obvious things that i found out about childerens games is how simple they are. For example, 

 Software product tutorials. 

Presentations, training materials or interactive touchscreen kiosks that provide instant information for exhibition visitors.

Kiosk in town

Cash point