board reconfiguration

So this is the direction that I went in with the board.  I reduced the number of information realities to just the real world and the internet.  The game has eight puzzle cards, which are spread evenly through the deck.  The spots for the cards are marked with the numbers surrounding the board.

game redesign rough

This is the quick rough that I created for the redesign.  there are multiple levels because I realized that players that can't figure out the puzzles even with help and discussion, and hints, will become justifiably frustrated.  so to keep them playing even when they hit a dead end, I decided to use the purchase away your problems idea.  There are some cards that place on the board small cubes, these cubes represent the information that players would have to be climbing through to find what they are looking for.  The players gather these off of the board to be able to buy a card out of the game.  It's impossible to buy away all of the cards, but it makes it so people can buy themselves more time.  The different levels are the different levels of reality that people would find information in the game: the internet, the real world, and in print.  The players need a certain amount of information from each to buy away their problems.

early board roughs

this was the early board rough designs, first the one that I had to axe because it just didn't work.

it was a race to the end, each space was marked by a card type which had a puzzle on it, or a hint on it.  Players needed to exchange information to get to the end box, because unless you could instantly figure something out by looking at it you needed other players to figure out what to do with your puzzle.  You could use any information means at your disposal if players were not willing to share their information.

website

The information for the website took a while to write up.  I lessened my scope for the number of websites greatly down to just one.  This site is part of the ground work for the ARG.  I am on the second version of the site, not because it was redesigned, but because I lost the original.

board game Redesign

At the end of week 8 I did the sensible thing.  Because the original board concept of a race to the finish where you need other players assistance wasn't working, I axed the design.  The redesign focuses solely on the co-operation aspect of the game.  The players all win together or they lose together.  The testing period was much shorter, but all in all the game works.  The main concern that I have at this point is that the board is to small.  or that there are not enough spaces, which I am probably right, but the right size would be determined by testing, which I do not have the time to do.

playtest failure

The entire design of the board game portion of my project did not work design wise.  It took a lot of time away from em, and ended up in needing a complete redesign.  How I handled the testing was I sent pdf's to players of the board, and used the email account to track the player movements.  the original design had the players competing against each other as well as against the game itself.  However it was obvious early on who would win, if any players won.  Players focused more on the competition aspect making the over all experience with them unpleasant.  I tried to keep this aspect, but then when a player seemed like the were going to lose, the players Sore Loser personality took over, making it so they would refuse to talk to anyone, or take their turn.  This also made the overall testing slower than necessary.  It was clear that there wasn't enough incentive for them to work together, and to many people were okay with the "If I don't win, then no one will" concept.

investigationg internet powered

my concept of having the game run on a website that would track player movements within the board game was part of my original concept.  A friend of mine who plays a lot of board games over long distances and time told me about a website called spiel.  They track player movement.  I referenced this site for when I was playtesting.

clue feedback

I have been having people try and figure out some of my clue types, the word wheel has needed the most explanation of how it works. and is the one that the fewest people have successfully deciphered when there are only two words to figure out, so having phrase that is deciphered using it is out of the question.  Also some people didn't figure out that the braille was braille, a suggested solution was to print it in braille so that the players don't only see it they feel it.

post 10

http://www.dblnj.org/images/braille_chart2.gif


A link to the page I referenced for writing the braille clues

Post 9

Post 8

Some pictures of forsyth park of monuments, and things that I can use as possible markers that the player will recognize. also the alphabet for braille and Morse code.

Post 7

Been researching different types of world puzzles to use withing the game.  A interesting thought came to me while reading a friends comic, and I am going to use visual braille as a puzzle, as well as visual morse code and audio Morse code.  I found a website that will translate type into an audio file of Morse code so I can use that.  There are also different puzzles that I have seen such as a letter circle, word in word, and word to word puzzles. I am also looking into picto-ciphers, as well as book ciphers to use within the puzzles.  I will post images when I get to Montgomery in the morning.

Post 6

There was some feedback from the pitch.  I am considering using pre-existing websites.  I also need to check out geo cashing.  I am writing riddles in my free time, and trying to figure out braille, and morse code to make riddles.

Post 5

I've been waiting on hearing from scad exhibition office, I will probably go to see them in person if they don't get back to me soon.  I have decided on the main theme of my ARG being the chasing of an art thief.  I am creating three websites to use in the spreading of the information of the game, a fake FBI most wanted imitation website, a art bidding website, and the main information/freelance detective site.  The purpose of the FBI most wanted site is to fill the players more into what kind of person they are chasing.  This also adds some depth into the believability of the word because there will be several "criminals" listed.  The Art bidding website is going to be more for keeping the players up to date on what is being targeted as well as what it is to late for them to save.  Finally the main site is going to be where the clues are distributed to the players or "freelance detectives".  I am also considering making a face book account for several of the actors within the game and a twitter account for the art thief.  I am unsure if I want to make the art thief into a riddler ripoff because I do want him to speak in rhyme and riddles to show that he is over confident in his intelligence but at the same time I am not sure if it is to cheesy.

Post 4

I ordered a camera so I can take images of Savannah and use them for this game as clues.  I am thinking that a good approach is to make this game into a looking for a criminal game similar to clue.  I was doing research into the psych of career criminals in the book writers guide to characteristics, and while it seems cheesy apparently someone who believes they are that smart often do leave clues to make it more difficult for themselves.  I have been going around looking at memorable landmarks and trying to figure out which ones are the most memorable.  I have started the website in dreamweaver, and it's been a really long time since I last opened it up, but having a site online to collect all of the clues and allow players to have a place to look seems like common place in these ARG game.  I am also signed up to participate in an ARG in two weeks so I can get a good idea of one way to do it.

Post 3

Exploring the concept of an Alternate Reality Game.  It seems to have been growing in popularity and is defiantly a concept worth exploring more.  The marketable potential is something that has caught my attention.  A lot of work to do on this concept, but it has a good amount of potential.
Links to and about Alternate reality games:
http://www.argn.com/about/
http://www.giantmice.com/features/arg-quickstart/

Day 2

Finished researching Jobs, and in the end have not narrowed down my choices enough.

Looking though my existing portfolio am trying to A) figure out if I have anywhere near enough stuff, and B) decided on what to focus on for the Project.  I believe my 3 possible pitches are as follows:

1. I am going to be writing a complete Design doc for an original concept.  Go though all the stages of design, and finishing with a completed Document with sample images and samples of what the different menus will look like.

2. I am going to Design and build a full level in Unreal, for an adventure game.  The Level concept would be based off the cliche Ancient temple with Technology that is way to advanced and impossible.  The level would be designed with no enemies and the projects main focus will be on using Kismet, puzzle and solution designing, some modeling and texturing, and set dressing.

3. I am going to Design and build a smaller level in Unreal, for a fighting game.  The focus of the project would be less about scale and more on exploring the use of unreal script.

Day 1 Post 1

Getting started.  First blog post.