Final Project Submission and Presentation

Uploaded my game at www.lisherlim.com/sociallyintroverted/ and tested for bugs. Although there were some minor bugs and glitches (such as the need to click on the locations twice while changing its availability), overall the game was successful.

I presented my work to Sweii, but somehow noticed that I lack of confidence when presenting the project. And when presentation was finished, Sweii gave me a comment which states that my game has a poor user interface. I could explain what I want and how I wanted it to be, but it did not show up  in the interface.Therefore, I am given another day extension to touch up on that.

Hopefully I am able to improve my map interface with the missing details. Although I have tried my best to make the game, I am not fully satisfied and there are lots of room for improvement. Given more time, I will refine it further to something that I like better and make it something I can be proud of.

Game Scene Screenshots

Finally done with the graphics and animation! proceeding to continue on my programming, with the help of my classmate - Williah Siah who tutored me along the way for using Action Script 3.0 to program the game.

Some screenshot taken during the game:

 Picture 1: Main interface as viewed in the website.

 Picture 2: Instruction page.

 Picture 3: Class example.

 Picture 4: Park example.

 Picture 5: Mall example.

 Picture 6: Library example.

 Picture 7: The winning scene.

Picture 8: Losing scene for  lack of energy.

 Picture 9: Losing scene for lack of social.

Simplified Location-activity Chart

What I mean by simplified in this case is just by taking away the playground scene and the activity in the mall - shopping with friends. However, I will enhance on the animation and instructions of the game, as well as do a better job in the website interface.

Here's the modified chart:

Picture 1: Simplified location-activity chart.

Project Critique and Tutorial 7

It's the final tutorial session for this semester. Everything needed to be asked and solved have been questioned to both my lecturer and tutor, as well as some peers. Today's tutorial session is more focused on the web interface (shown in the previous post) although the graphics were also shown to see if there were anything else I can improve on.

Comments and feedbacks for today's session:
- Frame and interactive space can be enhanced.
- Test on smaller font size, and to see if they fit in general computer's resolution.
- Background design is ok, unless depending on the purpose, can add simple patterns or design.
- Interface information can be rearranged.
- Website alignment can be refined.
- Buttons can be discarded if unnecessary.

My tutor made a quick example using my existing mock up to give me an idea of how I can improve my website's alignment and overall design. Here it is:

Picture 1: Print screen of tutor's web interface example.

The "About", "Game", and "Credits" button can be discarded as information can be written on the blank spaces in the web interface itself. The idea is so that if I were to promote the game fully, unnecessary information and elements should not be there so users can fully focus on the game itself. He also suggested to put the credits at the bottom of the interactive space or as part of the game itself.

Game Website Interface Mock Up

After going through various references, I did a simple mock up of the website's main interface:

Picture 1: Main interface of Socially Introverted.

The character at the left of the title is not coloured in yet, and the fonts are not finalized because I need advice for it. Overall I feel that it looks neat but plain, yet I could not think much of how to enhance it. 

Game Website Interface References

Found a few websites' interface design similar to what I want and proposed to my lecturer before. Here's the few examples:

 Picture 1: Herbal Essences website interface. Link: www.theoleg.com/hes/

 Picture 2: Lego Star Wars III website. Link: www.lucasarts.com/games/legostarwarsiii/index.jsp

Picture 3: Orisinal game website. Link: www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

For Picture 1 and 2, the reason I chose them is because of of the overall interface design. The buttons are located on the top center or top left/right corners of the interactive space (at the center of website). The website's name or logo, as one of the core elements, can be placed at the top left or center which allows users to identify easily with it.

As my interactive space is 800 x 600 pixels, the finished website interface would be most similar to Picture 1. And the colour would be referenced from Picture 3. I want to make the overall feeling very neutral and down-to-earth so that all ages feel comfortable in the website. It also suits the game characters' colours which are very similar with the soft earthy colour.

Project Critique and Tutorial 6

For this week's tutorial session, I've shown progress on graphics and also updates for finding background music and sound effects for my game. I meant to show my mock up main interface of my website, but there was an error in retrieving the file.

Feedbacks for the tutorial session:
- Progress being behind schedule. Should work harder to be back on track.
- Programming is about done, except minor errors for the clock.
- Can continue with progress for now.

Character Sketches

Had been having health related issues lately, but am getting better and will be back to normal soon. 

Here's a sketch of my characters - introvert and extrovert that I meant to post up earlier. It also serves as a character sheet for references of different emotions or poses/angles needed for the animation in the game.

Picture 1: Character sketches.

Digital characters will be drawn straight into Flash to ease the animation process. There was also some light coloring for the front view characters but it's not quite visible in the picture. 

Game Replay Value Case Study

Previously my tutor explained to me about game replay value to help me work out the structures and contents of my game. I understand the explanation well, but did not fully understand the process or the structure as I have not played and compare any games similar to my project. I found two interesting short games which will be used as a case study for game replay value as well as the design and content of both games. The games are: The King's League, and The First Hero.

The King's League link: http://www.kongregate.com/games/kurechii/the-kings-league

The First Hero link: http://www.kongregate.com/games/BeGamerCom/the-first-hero

Both are short games which lasts about 5 to 10 minutes each, or may be longer for The King's League.

The first game is called The King's League developed by Kurechii Studio. It is a point-and-click game which is about fighting in battles and get stronger to acclaim the king's throne. It has no story but has a goal in which is a non linear game. The interface is as follows:

 The King's League: Main page interface.

The colours used for this game are well researched. Purple is a royal colour, with some yellow colours used throughout the game and minor other colours which represents each characters well. The vector and overall design is very neat and minimal to avoid confusion as users play the game.

The King's League: Map and overall interface.

The map is simple yet detailed although not many players will notice much about it. The information are placed in comfortable positions at the top and bottom of the interface so that users can find information easily. Buttons and icons are well designed too.

The King's League: Instructions.

Text instructions are clearly written in a speech bubble layer, accompanied by visual instructions such as left-click mouse button. The different music used also suits different scenes.

 The King's League: Battle scene.

The battle scene is purely animation, and the character's training is crucial to decide who the winner is. (Users' characters are on the left) The background for battle scenes may be slightly dull as the focus are on the bar and the characters, but nevertheless is still very detailed. 

The second game is called The First Hero developed by BeGamerCom is another point-and-click game with a story. The story is about a hero traveling the ancient world and underworld to save his loved one. It has a very linear storyline with interesting but short gameplay. The interface is as follows:

The First Hero: Main page interface.

The visual design of the interface has a more chaotic feeling and the title's font is not suitable if compared to the visual. The colour suits the Greek theme especially seen in Greek design vases, but the realistic character in the background does not match the character in-game.

The First Hero: Map interface.

The visual design of this game is a mix of vector graphics, still images and textures. It has a very sepia-feel to portray an ancient time. The textures of the background enhances the effect of being 'old' or 'long time ago'. It is also solely animation while the boat or character is moving, except when clicking to close instructions.

 The First Hero: Instructions.

Text instructions are either direct or unclear at times, for example, not telling the users what to do. Users will have to figure out what and where to click in order to proceed the game. This is a form of mystery meat. Nevertheless, the instructions do not cause users to be frustrated as there are times, such as the picture above where users have to solve puzzles.

The First Hero: Character names.

Character names are according to Greek mythology characters and gods. But there are some name which are intentionally or unintentionally given by the developer that are misspelled. The picture above shows a three-headed dog Ceberus, which is renamed as Kerberos, and another example is with the Sphinx renamed as Sphynx.

The game replay value of The King's League is greater than The First Hero, meaning users will long to replay the game again at least once. Since there is no definite ending in The King's League, users can replay as a new game or continue with the settings and achievements of the previous game. On the other hand, The First Hero has a storyline in which users would understand upon finishing the game. Users will by then know what the story is about and how to proceed on, and that makes the game unlikely playable the second round.

In summary, the information about game replay value collected from both games are as follows but not restricted to:

- Games with greater replay value has more choices and varieties.

- It is normally non-linear or with more than one story. 

- Visual and audio design as well as game contents also affect the game replay value.

- Games should be more rewarding so that users will continue playing to get rewards. 

- Hidden or unlocked elements serves as a 'secret weapon' to make users play longer to unlock them.

- Games with greater replay value should not have a definite ending such as an ending with discontinues the entire story.

Project Critique and Tutorial 5

Today's tutorial solely focused on Action Scripts. These are among the issues and feedbacks for today's tutorial session:

- Bugs and glitches in the Action Script for the game are fixed and explained by tutor.
- Action Script can be simplified to ease programming. (sample demonstrated by tutor)
- Proceed with any graphics and animation.

Scene Design Refined

I had refined the colours and give some shadow and highlights to the scenes. Here are the scenes for the completed location of the game:

 Picture 1: Classroom.

 Picture 2: Friend's house.

 Picture 3: Home.

 Picture 4: Library.

 Picture 5: Mall.

 Picture 6: Park.

 Picture 8: Restaurant.

Picture 9: Playground.

The Simpsons Art Direction Referencing

After showing some of my friends and classmates the images I've done so far, most of them relate it to The Simpson's art style and think that I should reference from it more to polish up my graphics.

Link to image references: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4114659584/tt0096697