Week 7: How we are Lending our Hearts

23 February – 1 March, 2015

Stellar 6 was very touched to be invited to the Lending Hearts Gala on 26 February, and coming into contact first hand with the community that Vasso has built really hit home the importance and meaning of what we are making this semester.  We had a great time at the gala and it gave us a deeper sense of what we can hope to give, or how we too can lend our hearts, through our project.

Much of this week’s work was centred around the customisation component of the experience.  While Hilman began working on the login and server, Sam implemented many features for planet customisation: dragging items, inventory, and a new scaling/rotation control, to name a few.  This was supported by Ruchi, Wei and Hannah, who together created more than 50 assets for planet customisation in just this one week.

Ruchi and Wei attended the “Playtest to Prove” workshop on Wednesday, and Cheryl-Jean put plans together for our playtest on Friday at Elizabeth Forward School District.  Through Dr. Keruskin, we were able to meet with five kids from Central Elementary on Friday 27 February, who played our customisation and constellation games.  We soon pinpointed specific issues with the gameplay and UI in the constellation game, and narrowed in on the kids’ motivation to draw in the customisation game, all of which will inform our design changes in the weeks to come.