Weekly Newsletter Ten – October 26th – November 1st
Moving Forward
This week was dedicated mostly to two primary objectives: reviewing our feedback from halves and planning for the coming weeks. Of course, those two ended up going hand in hand. Before halves we set up a preliminary rest of the semester schedule. And while it didn’t change dramatically after halves, we did think over the faculty feedback. The comments we received were very positive. The faculty seemed to enjoy our presentation and they felt as though we did a better job of explaining our project than we did at quarters. Their only concern was if we have enough time in the semester to implement both the new features and networking. This is something that the team has thought very hard about. After discussing it for quite some time, we believe the answer is “yes.” The reason for that answer has very much to do with the project process. Toward the beginning of any project, a considerable amount of time is spent doing research, brainstorming, and designing. Due to the interesting nature of our project, we had to think especially hard about every question we had. We’re not building a game in the traditional sense. In fact, it might be a bit misleading to call what we’re making a game at all. It’s an experience with a certain goal in mind, and a difficult one at that. We knew from the start that our prior experience with making games wasn’t going to be directly transferrable. This meant that absolutely everything had to be examined and evaluated in detail. Why are using this particular art style? What does releasing the lanterns signify? How do we make it appealing to both genders? We asked ourselves countless questions of this nature and so did the faculty, ETC special guests, and the client representatives. Whichever way we decide to answer those questions will have lasting consequences. All of this is to say: now that we have a creative direction and answers to some of these questions, we can focus on implementation. Implementing features takes considerably less time than deciding which ones and for what reasons. Not that it will be easy, but we have the determination and drive.
In the coming weeks we will be making two big additions to our project. These are network integration and “tribute.” The networking is being implemented so that the children and teens will be able to have a sense of community. When going through the grieving process, it is important for one to know that they are not alone. The style of interaction we are going for is asynchronous. This means that players will be able to share content with one another, but won’t have to directly interact face-to-face in order to do it. In essence, we are putting the emphasis on the shared space. This allows each player to share without having to be in the same room as someone else, which can be difficult for some. From a development standpoint, it also means we don’t have to support real-time interaction which is considerably more difficult to do. The new features that we’ll be adding will revolve around the concept of tribute. Whereas the lantern activity represents “letting go” and provides a fleeting moment, the tribute activity will put the focus on remembrance. It will also provide an alternative means of expression for those who may not wish to draw. The exact details of what that will entail are being kept under-wraps while we work out the logistics. However, it will be more about things which last such as journal entries and perhaps even photos. By combining these different features with what we currently have, we hope to create something that is neither a game nor a journal. Rather, it will be something that takes advantage of aspects from both. We’re not quite sure if a name exists for such a thing yet, but that’s what exploring the cutting edge is about. There is no set methodology or terminology. All we have before us are a set of possibilities. It’s up to us to bring those things into reality and we certainly have fun doing it.
Weekly Newsletter Nine – October 19th-25th
Halves Week
Quite a bit happened this week, but it all boils down to two things: our halves presentation, and iteration. Halfway through the semester each team gets a chance to explain their project and show their progress to the rest of the ETC. It’s always fun to see what everyone else has been working hard on. It’s also a great opportunity to get a glimpse into how others view your team’s project. In essence, the faculty and our fellow ETCers provide the proverbial “fresh pair of eyes.” The questions they ask are important and often thought provoking. Due to our presentation being on Friday, the Seaweed Salad team spent a fair amount of time early in the week on preparation and practice. A very important part of the development process is being able to explain to others what your team is doing. Due to the unique nature of our project, the full explanation actually requires a lot of background knowledge. So our challenge was to come up with a condensed version which would provide enough context and clarity. Another great thing about preparing for a presentation such as this is that it allowed the team to take a step back. Often during development, our minds become occupied with the details of design and implementation. The very act of preparing helped to remind us of the bigger picture. In doing so, we were able to make more informed design decisions.
On the iteration side of things, we focused on improving and adding to our lantern field. In response to feedback from our playtest, we completely redesigned and implemented our navigation controls from the ground up. We also worked on optimizing the performance of the drawing feature so that it would work much more smoothly on the iPad. By player request, we’ve also been working on adding more things to the environment. This will not only add more visual appeal to the world, but the objects will also respond to the player’s touch. This is one way in which we plan to bridge the gap between the real and virtual worlds. Rather than just a game, we wish to make an experience. Making it has been quite the learning experience to say the least. We’re exploring fairly new territory with this project. We’ve been met with not only interesting technical challenges, but design ones as well. How do you take something that is made for a tablet device and transform it into something that helps others? That’s something that we’re still exploring. However, in searching for that answer we’ve learned a lot along the way. We can proudly say that it has been worth every second. Moreover, we look forward to what’s coming in the weeks ahead.
Weekly Newsletter Eight – October 12th-18th
Caring Place Cooperative
This week was rather exciting for the Seaweed Salad team. On Tuesday we held a playtest at Highmark’s Caring Place. However, for the significance of the event to make sense, we must first establish some context. After another week of rapid iteration we were able to complete version number two of our lantern activity. For those who may not be familiar with it, it’s an activity wherein players can decorate a lantern which they then release into the night sky. The activity itself takes place in a serene and whimsical environment where even the butterflies respond to the player’s touch. Two of the major challenges we faced were making the interaction with the iPad intuitive and making the experience engaging. To that end, we experimented with a new control scheme that we developed and the artists rebuilt the world. The drawing interaction itself was also redesigned from nearly the ground up. After we had something up and running, we were curious to see if we were headed in the right direction. So we were absolutely delighted when we were able to get the children and teens of Caring Place to test it for us. Nine amazing boys and girls came to join in on the fun and give us valuable feedback. We had a great time and gained a better idea of where we should go from here.
There were quite a few observations we made, but they all fall under two categories. The first is world exploration. We received a lot of great feedback on the visuals and overall mood. In fact, there were actually many requests for us to put even more into the environment. However, the results for navigation were a bit more split. Some of the play testers seemed to “get it” and did very well working their way through the world. However, there were a few who seemed to have a bit of a harder time. In response the world related feedback, we’ve decided to redesign the world yet again. This time it will be with even more content and a layout that’s easier to navigate. We’ll also be reprogramming the control scheme so that movement will more closely match what the children and teens of today are used to. The second category is feedback about the drawing mechanic. The common thread among the feedback was that we should add more colors. We also noticed that there were also a few play testers who didn’t realize that they could draw at first. We had attempted to go for the subtle approach, but it seems that not everyone picked up on it. Over the next few days we’ll be working to make the drawing a richer and more intuitive experience. It’s important to make the interaction such that they can almost forget about it. This will enable them to shift their focus to what’s really important: the larger context of what they’re doing. In the end, we gathered more than enough information to make our world even better. More importantly, we were able to see the smiles on the children’s faces. That experience in itself made everything worthwhile. To say that it was heartwarming would be an understatement. We are truly grateful to our amazing play testers and the Caring Place staff for their enthusiasm and support. Next up on our agenda is preparing for our halves presentation. We look forward to showing the rest of the ETC what we’ve done so far. We’re also excited to see their progress as well. Until then, we’ll continue to push forward like we always do.
Weekly Newsletter Seven – October 5th-11th
Rapid Innovation
Last weekend the Seaweed Salad team had somewhat of a game jam. For those unfamiliar with the term, a game jam is when you have a set time limit (usually lasting one or two days) and rapidly build a game within that time. In this case, we focused on just the lantern activity. It’s an activity wherein players find themselves in a magical nighttime environment with lanterns hanging around them. When they select a lantern, they are then able to draw on it before releasing it and watching it float away. Inspirations of ours include activities they have at Caring Place, Asian festivals such as Obon held in Japan, and the Disney movie “Tangled.” While the overall design of the activity had received a lot of great feedback, it was a bit difficult to imagine from just the concept art alone. So we spent a few days building a prototype that would serve as a starting point. As a result, we came into this week with the first iteration of the activity already done. Of course, as is the case with all rapidly implemented prototypes, not everything worked perfectly. We quickly discovered the technical limitations of the iPad and also noticed some things that could be improved. However, it served its purpose by helping us to think about the activity in concrete terms. It allowed us to see what worked, what didn’t work, and what else was needed. This reference point was then used to design and implement changes and additions wherever necessary. These changes can be grouped into two broad categories: optimization and enrichment. Optimization is needed to reduce the processing burden on the iPad which in turn will make the experience much smoother. Enrichment entails aesthetic and design changes which make the environment and activity much more immersive. Naturally, these two categories go hand-in-hand. This is because the more detailed we try to make the experience, the more optimization challenges we encounter. However, we believe that it’s ultimately worth it. What matters most is making something that feels magical and engaging. We also realize that this is a very big challenge. There are very few games that one can point to and say that they truly felt something while playing.
To help us in this process we have been researching games that we have found to leave lasting impressions. For example, the game “Kyoto” provides players with a serene and whimsical environment which takes an otherwise normal activity (moving your hand over a motion sensor) and elevates it through the clever use of visual feedback. It’s a great example of how properly packaging an experience can take it to another level. We’ve also been sifting through faculty and client feedback and seeing how their experience can benefit us. However, the best way for us to improve the activity is to actually have people test it. To that end, we’re getting the prototype ready for a playtest with the children and teens at Caring Place. By observing how they interact with the iPad and respond to the activity, we’ll get a much better sense of what is needed to make it complete. This of course means that as I’m typing this, we’re in the midst of game jam number two. This is so that we can take the current activity from a proof of concept to a fully playable experience ready for use. In the background of this process, we’re also continuing our tech research and detailing the design of the features we still have in the pipeline. That way we’ll be ready to start immediately on the next activity when the time comes. It’s always exciting to watch as a world comes to life, but this particular project makes it even more of a rewarding experience. If we can actually make a game that helps the children, even if in a small way, we will have done something that matters. That’s why we’ll do everything we can to make that happen.
Weekly Newsletter Six – September 28th – October 4th
The Journey Continues
The Seaweed Salad team has been hard at work this week pushing forward along two paths. As is the case with many creative endeavors, the design process never really ends. It simply goes through a series of transitions. This week we met with quite a few faculty members in order to go over our new design document. Their advice and anecdotes based on their years of experience helped our team to carefully evaluate each feature. For each potential feature we established three things: its inspirations, purpose, and relevance to our ultimate goals. Using this framework, we established a priority list and prepared some storyboards and concept art along with detailed activity flows. On Thursday, we met with the Caring Place staff and discussed everything from features and art direction to play testing and technology. Together we were able to establish where we’ll be heading creatively and technologically over the next few weeks.
In the short term, the team is implementing the first activity on our list: the field of floating lanterns. The activity will allow players to pick a lantern from the world, draw on the cover, and release it to be carried away on the wind. While the core of the activity is simple, the Seaweed Salad team has plans for the activity which will take it from being just another drawing app and transform it into a rich and engaging experience. That means taking full advantage of art and graphical effects, music and sound, and technology. The exact form the activity will take will change as we iterate based on player feedback. However, the final result will be something that can only be done with the magic of technology. At the moment, the team is building the first playable prototype of the activity. Even as I type this newsletter, art and code are being churned out at an unbelievable pace. After all, rapid prototyping is a proud tradition that lies at the heart of the ETC.
Soon we’ll be conducting playtests to see how we can improve the drawing activity. After we have gathered player feedback, we’ll move forward from there. While implementing the current feature, the team will also continue to refine the designs for the features still in the pipeline. This is so that we can create a holistic experience where each of the pieces fit together. While it may not be easy, we’re all very excited to see what the next few weeks will bring. There’s a certain sense of adventure that isn’t seen very often in academia. It’s what brought us to the ETC in the first place and gives us the drive to push forward into uncharted territory. What we’re doing isn’t just work; it’s a form of exploration. As time goes on we get to see a new world take shape; one that we are fortunate in being able to share with others.
Weekly Newsletter Five – September 21st-27th
Quarters Week
This was a rather busy week for the Seaweed Salad team. The first few days were spent preparing for our quarter presentation and continuing work on our tech demo. For those unfamiliar with the Quarters process, it consists of faculty going around to each of the different project rooms. The teams present to them their design ideas and the faculty provides creative feedback and asks questions. These questions often do not have readily apparent answers. The job of the teams after quarters is to think over those questions and sort through the creative feedback. Some key questions that we received were, “why these particular activities,” “how will it be moderated,” and “will it appeal to both genders?” We then set about finding ways to answer these questions. To that end, we looked back through the activity manual, spoke with Caring Place, consulted with the faculty, and continued to read through the survey feedback.
Based on the information we gathered, we compiled an up-to-date list of potential features along with specific reasons for choosing them. The aim of the list was to give us a range of options that had concrete reasons and relevance to the information we had available. Our next step moving forward is to consult with faculty and the client to come up with a finalized priority list. Once we have the list, we can rapidly iterate through them in short bursts. It’s almost like Building Virtual Worlds (the class we all took first semester) in a sense. Every set number of days we’ll be working on a different module and gathering feedback. Another challenge for us moving forward will be to build the world in such a way that it can be extended. From a technical standpoint this means extensive documentation and building things in a modular and extendable way. This also means building a system that allows for the addition of content by circumventing some of the usual problems encountered in open world games. We are also hard at work figuring out ways to handle data storage and to integrate external media and services. Our ultimate goal is to package and document the project in a way that allows for further work. The programmers are also working closely with the artists on figuring out which graphical features we will be able to take advantage of. We wish to add a certain visual richness to the world while still remaining within the limits of our platform.
In the coming week, we’ll continue work on our technical demo and consult with faculty. This is so that we can have something our clients are able to see for themselves. We also plan to nail down the scope and continue adding to the technical underpinnings needed to bring the world to life. We have a lot of hard work awaiting us over these next couple of weeks. However, in tackling these challenges we move closer to our goal, solve important technical problems, and explore a design space that is typically left untouched by the industry. That type of exploration is a reward unto itself.
Weekly Newsletter Four – September 14th-20th
The Sun Rises On a New World
This week marked the transition into the next phase of our project. Thus far, we’ve been doing a mixture of research and brainstorming. This involved a number of factors such as reviewing the Caring Place materials, brainstorming design ideas, speaking with the client and advisors, and doing research into technology and art. Coming into this week, we had a solid sense of what we wanted to achieve. We wanted an immersive world in which a player, through their avatar, can express themselves and explore. We also had a preliminary list of technical features, design ideas, and potential art directions. This was just so that we could get a sense of what was possible. It also helped us to gain a better idea of what the potential challenges will be moving forward. The outlines were in place and this week we spent a lot of time coming up with concrete goals and features that we could begin iterating on.
We are currently moving forward with the idea of a fantasy world with floating islands. Each island has a central theme and a variety of activities. These activities through their compartmental nature are intended to avoid overwhelming the players with information. Their layout within the world will also allow each individual to do things at their own pace. We’ve made the intentional decision to avoid a central narrative. It is our hope that this will prevent a passive experience. What we want is to encourage active exploration, and to allow the visitors of this virtual world to find their own meaning. To that end, we are creating concept art, defining concrete mechanics, and have begun work on our technical demo. Our team structure is also best suited for building this world in a modular fashion. The island approach makes this easier for us as well. This is because it enables us to take a level building approach to a world without levels. Over the next few days we’ll be moving at lightning pace. This is so that we can take our ideas and transform them into a format more easily visualized and understood. The results will not only provide the base of our iteration process, but also help us to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
Through understanding how everything connects we can start to expand on our technical infrastructure. Moments like these are always the most exciting for ETC students. They mark the transition of a dream into reality. Although the worlds we build are virtual, they teem with a sense of life and energy. They are the manifestations of the imagination and remind us why we set out on our journeys in the first place. It is our hope that our journey will help someone along theirs. The dawn of our world has come and we have a long, beautiful day ahead of us. “Why is our team name Seaweed Salad?” you may be wondering. Our reason: because it has brought smiles to people’s faces. That is why we do what we do and it’s what keeps us going.
Weekly Newsletter Three – September 7th-13th
Weathering the Brainstorm
This week was both very interesting and challenging from a design standpoint. The thing to keep in mind when you have such a creative team is that the ideas never stop coming. They shower down like an endless supply of rain and you wonder when the sun, the light of a solid design, will shine through. We realized that the possibilities were endless. However, when the possibilities branch out before you like an endless forest, it’s hard to know which path to take. We had multiple team and advisor meetings and spoke with designer Jesse Schell and the client as well. Everything from possible activities and environments to player interaction and content moderation was discussed in detail. However, they all focused around a central question: “What about this game will be different from real-world activities and how can we make it an emotionally safe place?” Through this process, we were able to narrow down our overall direction to a few possibilities.
Once we gained a better sense of where we were headed, we were able to dig deeper into our technology research. We needed to make sure that our ideas were even technically feasible before we headed too far down an unsustainable path. Fortunately, building many of our ideas is in fact possible although the specifics of how we will do so remain to be determined. We have decided to break ideas down into sets of core features and add-on features. The core features are those things which we will build first. The add-on features will be added in a series of “layers” so that nothing ever seems disjointed or incomplete. The lists are not yet complete, but the outlines of our project are becoming clearer by the day. The “brainstorm” is beginning to dissipate as the dawn of our design approaches. On somewhat of a side note: we had a lot of fun making silly poses for our team picture and thought about ways to decorate the project room. A huge part of the creative process is finding ways to connect with your team and transforming the work environment into an extension of the team itself. We want our team branding to reflect our creativity as well. Next week we will be finalizing our branding, drafting much more detailed designs, sketching out concept art, and beginning work on our tech demo. There are still quite a few challenges ahead, but we’re ready for the journey.
Weekly Newsletter Two – August 31st – September 6th
The Brainstorming Begins
This week presented a rather interesting creative challenge for us. On the one hand, we wanted to brainstorm ideas for the overall direction of the project. On the other hand, we didn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. It was important for us to wait until after the tour of Caring Place on Friday before we really dove into the project. So we decided on a middle ground approach. Throughout the course of the week we researched various games that represented emotional journeys and brainstormed ideas of how a journalized version of that would look. One particular example is the game Journey developed by Thatgamecompany. Despite being grand in size, its striking visuals manage to convey a sense of peace and not one of insignificance. Clearly we don’t have the time to make something that large. However, it got us thinking about the overall feel of the experience we wanted to create. The end result was not a fully-fledged design, but rather a series of concepts and potential features.
During our research and brainstorming we realized that there were some important questions that needed to be answered. These included things such as our target age demographic, technology platform(s), and the preferences of the client. Without those answers, we wouldn’t have been able to move forward. Fortunately, our client was able to provide us with many of those answers during the course of the week. As a result, going into Friday we had a better sense of where we saw the project going. The only thing that we needed was the “stamp of approval’ from our client.
On Friday we finally took our tour of Caring Place. We had the wonderful opportunity to meet the rest of our client representatives as well as get a better sense of their program. The walls were filled with works of art made by the children and their families. There were trees painted on the walls with the names of the people who had gone through the program on their leaves. Activity rooms were filled with building blocks, air hockey tables, a foosball table, markers, paint, and whatever else was necessary for the children to express themselves or to play. The staff provided us with a huge manual containing countless activities that they do along with their significance in helping with the grieving process. Everything was clearly very well thought out and the kindness of the staff was overwhelming. They’re clearly very dedicated and we look forward to working with them. Toward the end of our visit we asked our remaining questions and mentioned a few of our ideas to them. Not only did they give us their approval, but were glad to hear that many of their wishes were in fact possible. More than just a journal application, they wanted a digital representation of the activities that they do at Caring Place. Now that we have a better sense of where we’re headed, we can really kick things into full gear. Next week we’ll be doing more concept work as well as preparing for quarters. Part of that process will also include our team’s branding. We look forward to taking journaling to the next level.
Weekly Newsletter One – August 25th-30th
The Calm Before the Brainstorm
This first week was a rather interesting mixture of both calm and busy. Everything started rather slowly as we set up our computers and shared stories about our summer experiences. We later met with our advisors to have a discussion about the background and requirements of the project. The information we gained gave us a better sense of what to expect moving forward. More importantly, we came to understand how our project fits into the larger plan that Highmark has in mind. By getting a glimpse of their history with the ETC, we were able to better understand where we fit into the overall picture.
Starting on Wednesday the overall pace began to increase quite rapidly. We began our correspondence with the client and set up a meeting. The team name “Seaweed Salad” along with our project roles were decided and requests for equipment were sent in. The team’s core hours were also decided upon and we have already started planning the team’s branding. On Friday we met with our project sponsor Larisa Munsch and learned more about her and her involvement with the project. She answered many of our questions and we were able to give her a better idea of our backgrounds and skill sets. It was easy to tell that she had experience working with ETCers. One of the points she stressed the most is that Highmark is looking for our creative input and wants us to make this project something truly different. They’re quite pleased with the previous work that the ETC has done with them and want for that relationship to continue.
Our team looks forward to maintaining the standard of innovation and creativity that they have come to expect. As the week comes to a close, we’re already planning for an on-site tour at their facilities next Friday. In the meantime we will continue to brainstorm ideas which we can share with them. We will also be moving forward with the materials needed for Quarters. Things are definitely starting to pick up, but it wouldn’t feel like the ETC if we did anything less than everything we can.