MY 1st
alien My First Alien
PROJECT B Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
DESIGN STATEMENT
My First Alien is an interactive story game that leads children through a fun narrative while educating them on simple subjects like math, science and reading. In the game, the player would start of in their back yard playing where they would find a mysterious creature (an alien). They would make the alien into a sort of pet or family member (Alf anyone?) which would be a loveable trouble maker that leads the child on an adventure. Throughout the game the goal would be to continue the narrative of the story while engaging the child in fun educational questions/problems they would have to solve at the same time. For example, when examining the alien the narrative might say “The creature was very strange indeed - it had three eyeballs and four hairy toes on each foot!” at that time a question might pop up on the screen that said “4 hairy toes + 4 hairy toes = ?” and offer the children a choice of three answers. that they would have to answer correctly to move forward. The game would be flash-based and could easily be made available on educational websites for free. I see it as a type of game that would be split into chapters - and every so often a new chapter would be released to keep the child’s interest. I would be designing the first chapter in the series for this class.
AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT
I played many educational computer games as a child and I always found them more fun than simply studying out of a book. I think this takes that idea to the next level, in that children will be able to participate in the narrative and come back to play new chapters as the story and questions progress. Children are the audience and ages 7-9 would be the target age group. I plan to conduct more research about questions that are appropriate for those grade levels.
MOTIVATION
Like I stated above, I played many educational computer games as a child. I also read alot of books. I think what was missing was the combination of both, after looking over my initial ideas I realized that I could combine two things I was interested in creating (a story and an educational game) into one interesting educational tool. Game design is not my focus, but interactive design and (eventually) becoming an educator, is. I think this will help me branch out design-wise and think of education in my work (even if the audience is a bit younger than the students I plan to teach).
My First Alien
PART 1: PROPOSAL Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
Alien Character: To the right is the visualization of the alien that the main character Sally O’Malley finds in her backyard. As the story progresses the character will learn more about the Alien’s likes and dislikes, where he is from, how old he is, etc. Sally will name the alien “Larry” in an attempt to make him seem more “human.” The bottom right is a visualization of Larry’s spaceship, which Sally will also find in the backyard during the game.
My First Alien
PART 2: VISUALIZATION Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
Main Character: On the top right is the visualization of the main character of the story game, Sally O’Malley. Sally is a precocious 8 year old girl with a penchant for trouble. During the course of the story Sally will find the alien in her back yard and adopt him as a sort of alien “pet.” As Sally learns, so will the children who play the story game. Game Logo: On the bottom right is the logo for the My First Alien story game.
MY 1st
alien My First Alien
PART 2: VISUALIZATION Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
Storyboard sketches
Working Prototype: At the beginning of Unit 8, I finished watching the last of the Flash CS5 tutorials I had been working with so i would have a good foundation to build my game. I then sat down and wrote out a 4 page story board/script for the first chapter of My First Alien that I would be creating for this project. Having this storyboard foundation was invaluable as I began to build my working prototype of My First Alien in Flash. I was able to follow the planned scenes. The only problem I encountered was time because of the extensive preparation required I was unable to finish enough of the game to test by the end of Unit 8. I requested more time and was able to complete half of the chapter for testing.
Creating the game in flash
After finishing half of the game I exported the .swf file and placed it in a simple html file and uploaded it to my student web space so it could be tested in a browser. I then tested it on five subjects and gathered the data. The results of that feedback is documented on the next page.
My First Alien
PART 3: PROTOTYPE Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
Working Prototype is available to play at: http://studentpages.scad.edu/~mecary20/ITGM705/ Results and Plans: Even though only half of the game was finished at time of testing, I gained valuable feedback from the testers. Overall, the children and the adults felt the story was engaging, fun and stylish. The main criticism was the speed of the second half, which I had already identified as a problem before testing. This confirmed my belief that additional frames should be added to parts of the story where significant amounts of text are present. Adding music was also suggested, and I agree that without some type of sound it dulls the game play. I wanted to avoid voice-overs so the children could practice their reading skills, so I think the most effective way to remedy this is to add some simple background music to the scenes. I plan to move forward with my storyline as is and simply make the suggested changes above. I feel confident that a good quality chapter of the game can be produced by the end of Unit 9.
Because of the age of the majority of the testers and the fact that they were occupied with the game, I wrote down their feedback as they played live.
Raw Feedback
Kylee (9 yrs, child): Kylee liked that the graphics reminded her of anime and the bright colors. She said the story was fun, but the second half of the animation needed to slow down because she had a hard time reading it. Brian (7 yrs, child): Brian said the game seemed kind of girlie, but that the fact that it had aliens made it “cool.” He also had trouble reading the second half of the animation in the amount of time given. Brianna (9 yrs, child): Brianna liked the pretty colors and funny girl. She did not have trouble reading the game, but wanted it to be longer and said it was boring without any music. James (30 yrs, gamer): James thought the game would be fun for children and thought it was stylish enough for adults to play along as well. He didn’t have trouble reading along, but did mention that the second half seemed faster than the first. Diane (59 yrs, school teacher): Diane thought her students would enjoy the game and said it combined reading skills with educational questions. She thought some music should be added to make it more fun.
My First Alien
PART 3: PROTOTYPE Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
FINAL DESIGN STATEMENT
My First Alien is an interactive story game that leads children through a fun narrative while educating them on simple subjects like math, science and reading. In the game, the player starts off in their back yard playing where they would find a mysterious creature (an alien). They make the alien into a sort of pet or family member (Alf anyone?) which would be a loveable trouble maker who leads the child on an adventure. Throughout the game the goal is to continue the narrative of the story while engaging the child in fun educational questions/problems they have to solve at the same time. For example, when examining the alien the narrative might say “The creature was very strange indeed - it had three eyeballs and four hairy toes on each foot!” at that time a question might pop up on the screen that said “4 hairy toes + 4 hairy toes = ?” and offer the children a choice of three answers that they would have to answer correctly to move forward. The game would be flash-based and could easily be made available on educational websites for free. I see it as a type of game that would be split into chapters - and every so often a new chapter would be released to keep the child’s interest. I would be designing the first chapter in the series for this class, which follows the main character (Sally O’Malley) and her discovery of a spacecraft and, of course, an alien.
FINAL AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT
I played many educational computer games as a child and I always found them more fun than simply studying out of a book. I think this takes that idea to the next level, in that children will be able to participate in the narrative and come back to play new chapters as the story and questions progress. Children are the audience and ages 7-9 is the target age group. I conducted research on reading levels and subject matter before writing my script.
FINAL MOTIVATION
Like I stated above, I played many educational computer games as a child. I also read alot of books. I think what was missing was the combination of both, after looking over my initial ideas I realized that I could combine two things I was interested in creating (a story and an educational game) into one interesting educational tool. Game design is not my focus, but interactive design and (eventually) becoming an educator, is. I think this project has helped me branch out designwise and think of education in my work (even if the audience is a bit younger than the students I plan to teach).
My First Alien
PART 4: FINAL Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
GAME USE Technological Requirements: • This is a Flash-based game that must be loaded in an internet connected web browser. • This game requires Flash Player Version 10. • The most recent version of Quicktime Player should be installed for the sound to play properly on Windows based computers. • Only Intel-based Macintosh computers are recommended. • Flash Player is not available for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. Skill Level Requirements: • This game is recommended for children ages 7-9. • This game requires elementary level, English-language reading skills. • This game requires basic computer skills, such as using a mouse and web browser.
CHANGES/ISSUES
Luckily I was not forced to make any major changes to this project during the course of creation. I was able to successfully complete the majority of my initial script and story boards in Flash CS5 and insert the appropriate files into a basic webpage. Time management was an issue initially, as I had a bit of a learning curve to CS5 (vs. Flash 8, which is the last version of Flash I used), but in the end it all worked out. The one minor issue I have encountered is the background music, I had difficulty getting the music to loop correctly in Flash, so I ended up embedding the .wav file in my html document. This is most definitely not a permanent solution as some Windows browsers do not play it correctly or at all without the installation of Quicktime Player. However, music was not in my intial plan and the assignment is really about the interactive content – and the game functions perfectly well without the music. Overall, I feel confident that this is a minor issue.
SUMMARY
I am very pleased with the outcome of this assignment. I had fun creating it and I think the idea is unique. Based on my user testing I believe that children (and even adults) would really enjoy playing My First Alien. Because the chapters are short, it doesn’t test a child’s attention span, and engages children to read a story, interact with a game and learn about various subjects.
My First Alien
PART 4: FINAL Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011
Final game is available to play at: http://studentpages.scad.edu/~mecary20/ITGM705/
My First Alien
PART 4: FINAL Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project B: Final | Winter 2011