I think the biggest challenge our group has had has been having such different schedules and other priorities. Tomorrow we are going to be presenting to the clients our game and we haven't been all together in almost a week. We all have things to attend to and our schedules haven't permitted us to us to be together. That's student life though. I assume in the real world design teams are more united than this becuase they are forced to prioritize meeting together and they can count on each other to be available at certain times. Mind you, I'm sure there are cases when related work is coming from different departments, offices, or external sources and in that case clear lines of communication must be established. I think clear communication lines is what our group has succesfully grasped a hold of.
Our group was a bit rocky at the beginning because we had an additional member added in the middle of the game design process. We weren't on the same page as we were going to communicate or what our expectations of one another were. However, we were forced to a point where we had to talk and come to agreement about how we were going to organize ourselves and that has made all the difference. In spite of our business, we know when we need to check in with each other, how toaddress issues that arise and that we need to respect each others personal agendas. This has helped us to be gracious to one another and pick up each other's slack as problems have risen. The whole experience has been a great learning experience and I have really enjoyed my group a lot!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Visuals and Hints
Game testing was definitely useful. The main things the experience taught me were the importance of visual objects during instructions and hints.
In testing a game, I realized that players have presuppositions about what items described in instructions look like. If these expected images are unlike the actual items, the game can be confusing. It's better to describe objects with an actual image of it then leaving it to the imagination of the player.
Also, because people don't retain large chunks for information well, and tend to forget information more as elapses, it is not good to present instructions just at the beginning. It will be hard for them to relate what they have read/heard to the changing environment of the game because it is new to them and they will forget instructions as well. Hints should come continuously to guide players through and there should be an option that allows players to re-read the instructions during game play.
In testing a game, I realized that players have presuppositions about what items described in instructions look like. If these expected images are unlike the actual items, the game can be confusing. It's better to describe objects with an actual image of it then leaving it to the imagination of the player.
Also, because people don't retain large chunks for information well, and tend to forget information more as elapses, it is not good to present instructions just at the beginning. It will be hard for them to relate what they have read/heard to the changing environment of the game because it is new to them and they will forget instructions as well. Hints should come continuously to guide players through and there should be an option that allows players to re-read the instructions during game play.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
