RESEARCH
Crucial Crew
WHAT
Crucial Crew
WHEN
10/09/2018
SOURCE
3 cups
Blueberries
3 cups
Flour
Simple Shapes
Consistent art style that is easy to understand and look at
Game Mechanic
Multiple choice, gives replayability and learning opportunity for children
Simple Colour Scheme
Clear and clean
Generic Characters
3 character choices, styalised to be recognisably human but not specific demographic
1½ cups
Butter
What?
Crucial Crew is a workshop that provides interactive sessions on topics that are useful life skills for children. These include both safety and behavioural issues, such as internet safety, bullying, road safety and how to make an emergency call.
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Who?
These workshops are aimed at primary school children, and usually include activities and industry professionals coming in for a day/session alongside a normal school education. It is supposed to be a complementary learning experience for things that aren't necessarily in the curriculum for traditional educational learning.
Virtual Crew
Virtual Crew has the same goals and aims as Crucial Crew, but has been developed to use the online and interactive media aspect to deliver topics to children. It is the first of it's kind; the idea is to be able to deliver safety and informed choices to masses of children, through a medium that is both fun and interactive.
In today's world, with the internet and computers providing the majority of educational tools and information for children, it seems a logical step to combine the platform of gaming with the sometimes difficult topics for children. If they can have fun while learning then the idea you're trying to teach is more likely to stick.
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For game developers, gaming has always been an open platform where you are able to talk about any topic, any issue and create something with it. The diversity available to us in the gaming world means that it is an easy conclusion to come to, making games that have a moral/behavioural/safety message for children.
Road Saftey
The road is a dangerous place for anyone, so it's important that children learn from an early age that drivers suck. Waiting for it to be safe, using zebra crossings and pelican crossings are important lessons to understand. It also goes hand in hand with bike safety and watching, waiting and listening.
Internet Safety
Today's world is owned by the internet. You can read, watch and write more or less anything - that's very dangerous for impressionable young minds. Parental controls, cyber bullying and the dangers of giving out personal information is vital for children to know to survive in this increasingly online world.
Fire Safety
Responding to dangers and understanding the signs of a dangerous situation can be the difference between people getting hurt or not. From making sure they are safe, to reporting what could be a situation will help children to take responsibility and live safely.
Water Safety
Learning to swim is not a necessity, but at least to understand the danger of water is. Whether it is the sea or a river, or your own bath tub, learning what to do/ not to do could save a life. It's a personal thing for children to learn and also serves a greater purpose so that they can respond correctly if someone else is in danger.
Examples Of Educational Games
WHAT
WHEN
SOURCE
Educational Games
30/12/2018
Cool Math ; AT&T
Good Daddy is a puzzle game that requires the player to change the playable character into different shapes in order to get the NPC to the other side. The stars are also quick time events so it adds an element of speed and skill in order to get the high score.
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This helps children to understand shapes and timing, as well as recognising dangers for the NPC.
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The colour scheme is simple and clear as to the objective of the game. It is quite dull, but the characterisation of the characters gives the game a nice aesthetic. The Dad character is obviously displayed as old, with glasses and a messy hair, whereas the child is stereotypically wearing a fun hat and is smaller.
It stays consistent throughout, gradually increasing the challenge but still making what the player has to do obvious. The controls are very easy and that means that children from a young age can play.
Saftey Land is a point and click game that covers internet safety. It is up to the player to delete all the emails and clear out the 'nasty character'. This very clearly introduces the player as the hero and a baddie which is often important when giving children an goal. There are lots of areas to explore in this game and the map offers a range of recognisable themed zones to complete, like sports and the cinema.
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This helps children to understand the dangers of the internet and talking to strangers. The idea of warning children early on will prove to be valuable as they grow up on the internet.
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The scheme of this game is aimed at children older than that of Good Daddy, as it uses sharper lines and a more grown up topic. The dull background against the bright zones to explore makes them look more interesting. The bad character is obviously displayed with a mask over the eyes which is recognisable from comic books and TV shows.
The Brief
WHAT
WHEN
30/12/2018
Exploring The Brief
The brief for this project is to create an educational game that tackles some common issues faced by children while they are growing up, to be used in schools in the Colchester area. The game should be fun, appropriate and provide children with an educational experience on one of these topics.
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Gangs & Knife Crime - It is not uncommon to see groups of children meeting up to socialise, which can lead to antisocial behaviour and low level youth offending. This is different to an actual 'gang', where the children identify themselves (and are seen by others) by having violence and crime integral to the groups activity.
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Antisocial Behaviour - This covers a range of disruptive behaviour that causes harm to a person, community or the environment. It could be harassment, making people feel unsafe or being loud and unruly. This is sometimes linked to gang culture.
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Cyber bullying/ internet safety - What is possibly the most prevalent issue facing children today is cyber bullying and safety on the internet. Without regulation/monitoring, children can fall prey to grooming, harassment and bullying that can cause serious harm.
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Drugs & Alcohol - Either from not understanding the risks properly, or serious family/home/friendship issues, some children are introduced far too young to the effects of drugs and alcohol. This can lead to dependency, health issues and negatively affect their future.
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Healthy Relationships - This is very important and often overlooked - it covers both familial, friendship and relationship topics; understanding when you are being treated negatively, feeling scared of someone and just knowing to treat other people correctly is a good foundation to give children at an early age.
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Hate Crime - Racism, homophobia and sexism are still relevant issues that require tackling today. Children should know how to recognise and tell the correct authority about a hate crime. It's unacceptable behaviour and at the age of 10 children are able to not only understand why it's wrong, but tackle it in the environments they encounter.
Semiotics Of Popular Games At The Moment
WHAT
Looking at the colour schemes and choices in current games
WHEN
02/01/2019
Bold, simple font; slightly uneven which looks plaful
Bright, colourful colour scheme = fun
Female & male characters; varying costumes and masks
The tone of the game is light and silly; doesn't look complicated or serious (man on llama)
No clear protagonist/
antagonised
Neutral colour of purple, which makes it look neither masculine nor feminine;
accessible to all
Mixture of characters,
human forms and creatures
Characters don't look scary or intimidating because they're all smiling - the designs could be made to look very different with lighting and expressions
Blocky font which links to the idea of blocks in game
From this screenshot you don't know what kind of game it is, but it looks fun and interesting anyway
Lots of characters and bright colours
Everyone is happy and smiling
Interesting environment with many activities
Simplistic shape/ style easy to convey meaning and understand
Familiar setting of a city/park, but more futuristic
(Looks like Lego, but isn't Lego) - looks to be a more open environment than Lego games
A story/ adventure for everyone
Loads of little people in the background suggesting a large scope to the game
Tag yourself I'm this mole dude
Looks like you can have the round things as pets, maybe
Shows activities that some children haven't/will never experience e.g. being a rockstar or flying
Different customisation on each of the characters
Nintendo just get marketing a game right, ok
Looks E P I C - galaxy, bright colours
Star in the middle and Bifrost-esque lighting in the middle makes it look mystical/magical
All the characters are in action poses
Mix of art styles & colours makes it really interesting to look at
Lots of characters from many beloved franchises - Pokemon, Splatoon, Mega Man, Mario etc
Super Smash Bros - instantly recognisable title
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'ULTIMATE' - it doesn't get better than 'ultimate'; hypes people up
Puts several characters from each franchise so people can find their favourite & they all can fight!
Up to date character models - more appealing for the younger/newer generation
Initial Ideas
WHAT
Exploring some concepts for a relevant game
WHEN
02/01/2019
The idea of this game was for it to be a customise your character simulation. There would be many options for hair, eyes, mouth, mask, ears, hats, arms, legs, body etc.
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I thought it would be nice for creating interesting characters for children, who have a lot of imagination. This could then be expanded to an open world format, like Club Penguin, or they can just save the creation to look at later.
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It would also provide a self esteem boost for children who feel like they're not represented in the media. Although the design I chose to draw is wacky, to be able to create a character of your own, who looks like you (or what you want to look like) would allow everyone to participate.
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The tag line 'This is me, and that's pretty cool' is supposed to support the idea of no matter how you look, or what your interests are, that's you; that's really important for children to understand that their individuality is not a bad thing. Also, as mentioned before, it would allow minorities to have representation and be reaffirmed that it's good to be yourself.
Call The Fire Pig! is a fire putting out game with multiple levels. The fires would spawn randomly and the player would have to spam the space bar to keep the pressure of the water up to put the fires out.
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It would have multiple levels which are accessible on a 'map' system that you come back to after every level, so you can play a level again to get a higher score.
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The art style will be simple block shapes and colours. There will be (short) dialogue to explain the dangers of fires and what to do before sending the pig out to tackle the fire.
As the levels increase, you get new equipment to use against it, thus increasing the difficulty and giving educational opportunities on the risks/stages of reporting a fire.
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It was going to be a dog character, but I didn't want it to be a bad knock off Paw Patrol; pigs are pretty cute and will stand out against the scenery.
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Refining Ideas
WHAT
Choosing which topic my game will be about
WHEN
02/01/2019
The topic I am going to make a game about is Healthy Relationships.
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I believe that prevention/education will prove to be valuable in lowering the affect of unhealthy relationships - in domestic violence, emotional abuse and what makes a good relationship.
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It's strange because I think of how valuable it would have been to know, because when you hit 'relationship' age, you only have stereotypes and the actions of your peers to go on. Why is there sex education, but not healthy relationship education? Surely one should definitely come before the other; not all relationships include sex.There's so much stigma and stereotyping surrounding relationships, e.g. Women are the only victims of domestic abuse, sex is part of a relationship, same sex relationships don't face the same issues as hetro relationships etc.
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I think it's important to also cover healthy relationships with parents/carers and friends. It's hard to tell the difference between playful teasing, being mean and being influenced. In doing this, children might not go into secondary school as oblivious to the sometimes well hidden acts of bullying.
Talking about mostly adult circumstances will require careful wording and representation; it should be accessible to children younger than 10, without being condescending to the older children. The colour scheme must be interesting but not distracting from the topic; the game mechanics fun, while remaining educational, and the topic successfully communicated without being too graphic or detailed.
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Preliminary, I am considering creating a world that contains human-esque creatures, either animals or shapes. Shapes would be easier as they require less complicated drawing/animations and the game I envision will have a world that contains many characters to interact with. A point and click game with a basic inventory would allow me to explain items in the environment and collect them. There would also be multiple choice (I watched Bandersnatch and it was incredible) which would allow the player to explore (toned down) scenarios when talking to other characters. I could also include elements of the other topics by having it as point and click, although I wouldn't want to lose sight of the main topic. The game currently on the Crucial Crew website offers elements of multiple hazards children face; it would be nice to incorporate things similarly.
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Ideas to cover in the game:
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Define, model and give examples of what a healthy relationship is - giving children good values to build from will help how they interact with everyone, but especially when understanding what the difference between a good or bad relationship is. An important factor to learn young would be that being your own person, while in a relationship, and keeping your individualties will allow for them to have healthy relationships in the future.
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Explain what an unhealthy relationship is - Just because a relationship isn't physically abusive, doesn't mean it's not unhealthy. According to breakthecycle.org, an unhealthy relationship is defined as “an imbalance in which one partner tries to exercise control and power over the other through threats, emotional abuse, and physical abuse. At its most extreme, an unhealthy relationship can include name-calling and insults, withholding of money or other resources, threats to isolate a person from friends and family, coercion, violent acts, stalking and significant physical injury.”
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Discuss digital abuse - digital abuse is awful, because it can reach you anywhere. Harrassment, cyberbulling, constant unwanted calls/texts, monitoring where you are or pressuring the person to post/not post something on social media are all examples of digital abuse.
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Help them define boundaries - Certain boundaries should already be established for children, like how to behave, what's not ok to call someone etc. In relationships, these boundaries let the other know what is ok/not ok, what they're comfortable with and what each person is expecting from the relationship.
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Spotting signs for an unhealthy relationship - Lack of mutual respect, not respecting your partners boundaries, an inequity of power and control. The person withdrawing from going out or meeting with friends/family/hobbies. They should know how to see the signs, and also how to act upon them.
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Tell them who to ask for help! - They should be aware that they can talk to a parent/carer, a trusted adult or local resource for help. If they know the signs they need to be able to act upon them for themselves, and for others who they might see the signs in.
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SOURCE
Point & Click Adventure
I think that a point and click adventure would be a good way to cover a lot of ground on the whole topic. I would either use Construct, which have been able to find a couple of tutorials for, or Unity, which is more complicated but will have more techniques/options.
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Puzzle Game
A more basic idea would be to try to incorporate Healthy Relationships into multiple puzzle games.
WHEN
WHAT
Presenting Refined Ideas
Closer look at (near) final ideas
08/01/2019
Audio In Games
WHAT
Different types of audio in games
WHEN
10/01/2019
Ambient Audio: Ambient audio means the background sounds which are present in a scene or location. Common ambient sounds include wind, water, birds, crowds, office noises, traffic, etc.
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Abstract Audio: Abstract sound design could be construed as a sound that represents something that doesn't usually have a sound (mental flashbacks or character epiphanies, for example), or a sound that itself doesn't have a real world equivalent.
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Soundtrack: a recording of the musical accompaniment of a film/game depending on genre, and may change in certain situations.
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Interactive Audio: Action changes, so the music responds to these changes. Direct communication, indirect communication, environmental communication, footsteps, picking up an object, etc.
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Dialogue: Interactions between characters in game; the right voice actor can make all the difference!
Foley Sound - Foley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to Games, and other media in post-production to enhance audio quality. These reproduced sounds can be anything from the swishing of clothing and footsteps to squeaky doors and breaking glass. Foley FX add that sense of realism to a picture, even if the sound is something non-existent in reality (such as a sci-fi phaser gun).
1.A fire - Crunching a crisp packet
2.Someone walking on snow - pressing on flour inside a balloon
3.Heartbeat - knocking on a table to a rhythm
4.A ticking clock - plastic cups on a table
5.Bones being broken - snapping popsicel sticks; pistachios
6.The sound of a nose/cartilage breaking - ice cream cone
7.An animals ears flapping - leather gloves
8.A sword coming out of its sheath - scraping knives together
9.A rattlesnakes tail rattling - maracas/ rice inside a bottle
10.A horse galloping - coconut shells/ plastic cups
Soundstage & Acoustics
To capture a good recording, it is important to have sonic depth, width, and height. These spatial attributes are the difference between hi-fi and lo-fi recordings - which will be important in giving the best sounds.
The most notable aspect of a good soundstage is the elimination of early reflections while maintaining a three-dimensional balance. *I have a small room at home that I can use to create these sounds, which will give my game unique sounding abstract and ambient noises.
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Foley Objects
There are many objects that can be used to achieve an accurate depiction of the visual. Anything and everything is usable to create sounds, though different tones will depend on the genre of the game/film. The first step, before recording, is to review the game and make a list of the different sound effects in the order they will be seen. Then the most appropriate objects must be chosen for each sound effect.
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Recording & Execution
In a full production, industry standard microphones would be used to record the sounds. (For the purposes of this project, I will likely use to microphone on my phone - although not professional will still provide a useful tool). Experimenting with different microphone placements and positioning in relation to the object making the sound will give different levels in recording. It's best to record multiple different angles/positions for the same sound effect and choose the best. The more options the better!
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I have also researched a website where you can create a whole soundtrack with ambient noises, which has been invaluable to play around with. They have so many assets already available; anything not on there I can create myself. https://other-atmospheres.ambient-mixer.com/create-a-new-atmosphere
Source
The task was to discuss the different types of audio found in games: Ambient, Abstract, soundtrack, interactive (direct, indirect & environmental ) and Dialogue.
Good audio in a game is almost as important as the graphics and story - it's the part that will always impact the player throughout the game. Clever audio design can teach the player about a danger, when to interact and also provide the unique voice acting that can impact the player even after completing the game. It's always very clear when there is bad audio design within a game - it can ruin the experience completely.
Audio In Bioshock
Bioshock was groundbreaking in many ways; the audio within the game is no different. Instead of predictable sound ques or monotonous audio design, it built up the narrative experience rather than just complimenting it. They chose music from the era which, upon your first playthrough may go unnoticed, corroborates with the story/theme of the chapter. The voice actor of Atlas, who you know only by a picture until the end, gives the character so much depth; having the player collect audio diaries to supplement plot; the various abstract sounds for things that only exist in the dystopian setting. All of these things come together to make Bioshock a really unique experience.
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In my own game I'd like to give a really strong sense of theme/story. This will be easy in the setting I have chosen, as the ambient sound of children playing makes sense in a school. I'd also like there to be more subtle cues, like in Bioshock, for the possible enemies/ unfriendly characters the player might come across.
Audio In Night In The Woods
Night In The Woods is one of my favourite games - in large part due to the atmospheric music. As a narrative adventure game, the tone and immersion you get is mostly from the audio. The songs that were written for the characters fit so well with the emotions of the main character. In this game there is no voice acting, only abstract sounds to represent the speech - this makes the expression and characterisation of everyone you meet entirely up for interpretation. (Gregg Rules. Ok). The sound tracks for each area are beautiful and always feel relevant, giving the town a particular mood, Bea's shop a certain tone and home it's own unbalanced sentiment.
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I don't want voice acting in my game, and would use a similar technique as used here. I think it leaves the player to take what they want from conversations and personify the characters in their own way. Sometimes less is more with games, without the game shoving what the developer wants you to feel, you get to interact with the characters freely. Again, the soundtrack is beautiful, simple and different - I've never played a game like it. If I could get my audience as immersed in my game's world through nothing more than audio as I was here, that would be amazing.
Twine VS Construct 3
WHAT
Comparing Twine and Construct 3
WHEN
14/01/2019
What is Twine?
Twine is a lightweight but powerful editor that you can use to write and produce branching scenarios and, unlike many tools created for the elearning industry, Twine lets you extensively customise your materials, and it creates a standard HTML file.
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What is Construct 3?
Construct 3 is a 2D game engine that can be used to design and create your own games, such as puzzles, platformers, role-playing games (RPGs), shooters, racing games, or even storybooks.
Construct is better overall for game development, however Twine allows you to write and export code to other programs. It's easy to see on Twine and edit scenarios, allowing you to map ahead and plan for your game. Construct is much more a learn as you go program, and is therefore not as good for planning purposes.
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Overall, I think Construct 3 is better than Twine, as it has a lot more features and opportunities. It was useful to go through Twine and try to plan some of the steps in my game, however.
Player Choices In My Game
WHAT
Making decisions for my game
WHEN
14/01/2019
Characters (Interactable):
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Teacher (Classroom)
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Hamster (Classroom)
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Classmate 1 (Playground)
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Classmate 2 (Playground)
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Classmates Group (Playground)
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Teacher (Playground)
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Student (Bus stop on way home)
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PCSO (On way home)
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Dog (On way home)
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Sibling (Home)
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Parent (Home)
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Cat (Home)
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Characters/Various (Computer at Home)
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Teacher (Classroom next day)
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Classmate (Classroom next day)
Plot Points:
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You are Counter, 10 year old school kid
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A kid in the class is having a bad time at home
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Solve the mystery for this kid about who to talk to and how to tell someone what's wrong Parents have an unhealthy relationship
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Feed the hamster treats (mini game) Healthy relationship with pet
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Group of kids bullying someone -> tell the teacher/confront the kids unhealthy friendships
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Student crying on the way home
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Talk to them//offer them something collected from the classroom/playground (Sometimes an act of kindness is all it takes to help someone) Healthy relationship
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See a dog wandering the street - who to call, etc Healthy relationship / respect for authority
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Sibling is rude/puts you down -> talk to parent; retaliate; slam door Unhealthy/healthy relationship
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Depending on how you reacted to the sibling, unlocks another scenario where you hear that their bf/gf has been pressuring them -> unhealthy relationship
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Solve/ help kid with parent problem - Describing why it's unhealthy between the parents, shows healthy relationship for the friends
Objects (Interactable):
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Book (Classroom)
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Hamster treats (Classroom)
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Post it note (Classroom)
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Whiteboard (Classroom)
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Pencil Case (Classroom)
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Scissors (Classroom)
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Biscuit (Classroom)
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Drawn picture (Classroom)
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Skipping rope (Playground)
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Lost shoe (Playground)
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Litter (Playground)
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Teddy (Playground)
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Penny (Bus stop on way home)
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Drink (On way home)
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Teddy (On way home)
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Computer (Home)
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Cat treats (Home)
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TV (Home)
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Homework (Home)
Choices:
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Feed hamster/don't
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Interact with everything (Some objects will just have descriptors)
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You won't be able to leave each area without all the clues for the main mission
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Talking to characters
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Choices in situations; certain choices will give a different solution in the next school day
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Uninteractables but expositional background text/chatter
Types of puzzles I could include in the game:
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Item Use - the player applies these items to characters or objects in the environment to effect a change
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Item Combination - the player has to combine two items in his inventory to form a third, new item
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Environment Puzzle - the player has to interact with items right on the screen
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Navigation - the player has to carefully steer the character around the screen, or risk a penalty
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Diversion - the player makes a distraction to occupy a npc, leaving them free to collect an object
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Order of Operations - the player has to perform a series of actions in a certain order to succeed
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Conversation - the player’s success entirely depends on the conversation options he chooses
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Mini-games/Riddles - have to be completed to move on
Narrative Theories
WHAT
Discussing different Narrative Theories
WHEN
15/01/2019
BARTHES
Barthes describes narrative as a series of codes that are read and interpreted by the audience.
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Action Code (proairetic code):
Something the audience knows and doesn't need explaining e.g. someone being wheeled out on a stretcher tells us they are going to hospital
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Enigma Code (hermeneutic code):
Something hidden from the audience; creates intrigue.
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Semic Code:
Something that the audience recognise through connotations.
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Symbolic Code:
Something that symbolises a more abstract concept e.g. a darker than usual room of a murder scene could symbolise the depth of darkness and depravity
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Cultural Code (referential code):
Something that is read with understanding due to cultural awareness e.g. youth culture use certain words that are understood by that culture
TODOROV
Todorov describes narrative as going from equilibrium to disequilibrium back to an altered equilibrium.
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Equilibrium (sets the scene):
Everyday Life
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Disruption (complication):
Something happens to alter the equilibrium.
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Conflict (climax):
Trying to solve the problem (seek resolution).
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Resolution:
Problem is sorted
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New Equilibrium (satisfactory end):
Back to normal (but never the same) - a new normal
Character Development Theories
WHAT
Discussing different Character Development Theories
WHEN
15/01/2019
Jens Eder
Characters are of central importance for our experience, and they confront us with a multitude of questions concerning their production, structures, meanings, effects, etc.
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The “clock of character” distinguishes between four aspects of characters: (1) As artifacts, they are shaped by audiovisual information; (2) As fictional beings they have certain bodily, mental, and social features; (3) As symbols, they impart higher-level meanings; and (4) as symptoms they point to socio-cultural causes in their production and to effects in their reception.
Jens Eder
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Ralf Schneider
Cognitive Theory of Literary Character
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Throughout the playing process, players elaborate, modify, or revise character models to incorporate incoming information. A cognitive theory of literary character not only provides a systematic account of the constituent elements of character-reception from both text-related and reader-related sources, but it also proposes a process model that tries to capture the most important distinctive phases of mental-model construction in character-reception.
Ralf Schneider
Flow Theory
WHAT
Discussing Flow Theory
WHEN
19/01/2019
This research is incredibly important in any game, but in particular for this assignment. The target audience is 10/11 year old children, so the challenge of the game needs to be fun and rewarding. I will keep in mind during the development stage maintaining clear goals, direct feedback for any action in game and working controls, as these are the most manageable during the development stage.
Representation In Games
WHAT
Discussing the importance of character representation in games
WHEN
20/01/2019
Representation is how media deals with and present gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, social issues and events to an audience. What is presented in the media has the power to shape an audience’s knowledge and understanding about different topics.
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Gender Representation - overly sexualised female characters, no strong female protagonists, male orientated marketing
Body Image - better graphics means more realistic representation of human forms
Racial Diversity - videogames are full of white males; when other ethnicities are depicted it is usually only as exaggerated stereotypes
Hates the protagonist, has a thirst for power, and is borderline a devil incarnate. Is a scantily clad woman that is quite literally a "man-eater"; even when they're super evil or graphic, there still has to be an exposed cleavage, basically no clothes that would provide actual defence, to make sure pubescent boys don't kick up a fuss about a decent female fighter.
GTA is never without it's controversies. This here is Lance Vance, who is the one-time pal of protagonist Tommy Vercetti's, who proclaimed his want for his brother's "white lady". (He gets killed off, there's a similar trope in video games as there is in movies unfortunately, they just kill of all the non-white characters). (Not forgetting the controversy of blowing away Cubans and Haitians). Typically, black males are portrayed as brutally violent, casually criminal, and sexually promiscuous. He's trying to overtake in the drug business and gets shot. Standard urban/street game handling of a black character, leaving them with no depth at all.
There's no excuse for limiting the representation in games - the impact it has (especially on children) reaches wider than the bigotry and stigmatisation that clouds the people at the top of the industry food chain. People being able to see themselves in heroes, antiheroes; smart characters; pretty characters; realistic characters. Women are not just eye candy, or damsels in distress. Black people are not thugs looking for fights. Asian people are not hackers sitting on a computer. LGBTQ characters are not going to make your kid gay. It's unbelievable that racism, sexism, and homophobia are still as prevalent as they are today - people only find it different/strange because seeing these characters in what is normally white male character tropes is not common. People would lose their minds a lot less if it was normalised instead of ostracised.