Evaluation (Presentation)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=19RJk4Y59OZOIvSCy1Uci_Ai-PvbhlUsA

 

The research gave me a base in which to build my ideas around, interactive narratives I had an interest in, more so than the others. I think that’s because it’s the one I’m most familiar with.

I researched games like ‘The walking dead’ and ‘Until Dawn’ as they have interactive features in the game and also because I know games. Researching deeper into the interactive side can be and was useful.

The research is what I’m good at, finding products and analyzing products and so on. Research is what I’m good at.

However, I could have expanded a little bit more with ideas, like being more adventurous with my ideas. And spending a lot more time on the ideas and developing them as well.

I am way better at research now, in the past when I’d research I’d scratch the surface of information and believe it was enough. But now I understand that you can never research too much.

My strengths I’d say is; Research and Writing. But i do struggle to give attention to detail. Reading over work again after completion. Adding more detail and rethinking original idea is something I need to do way more often.

With planning I focused on props, locations, characters, lines and I planned the interactive side to the product, I think quite well, with four different endings and 6 choices to make.

But If I didn’t procrastinate so much, the project would have been dramatically better, and I stupidly limited myself in terms of ideas and time. If I wasn’t so lazy my product would have been better, way better.

In summary, I am happy with my idea but I don’t like how I made it, I will strive to be more hard working and less of a procrastinator.  My ideas are good, and I know I have potential to make good things, I am angry at myself for wasting an idea. But I think I did good on the interactive side of things.

 

Product Planning & Reflection

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pS11zi4J857R7tSPQhYmgs7c0tJ_JB8FDXrNVh5EAlQ/edit?usp=sharing

I have planned what the plot will be and what props to use, the characters, locations, costumes and what part of the project will be interactive. The camera angles and how long each scene will show, the interactive items and sights will have a flashback memory’s attached.

Knowing that I haven’t got a blockbuster kind of budget means I need to compromise with items and locations. For example I can’t rent out a penthouse for one scene, or rent a car that would fit a detectives salary. And so I need to make do with what I have. Using my Fathers car for the car scene and my normal house for the house scene. As well as that I don’t have any actors or actress’ at my disposal, so I have to make do with what I have. But its nothing I can’t work around.

Most of the items I need will be easy to get and I’m sure everything I want to do is completely do-able. Although an old school tape recorder will be a challenge to get hold of. Especially one that works perfectly.

I decided to separate the main story and the interactive side of it. Yes they intertwine but they don’t completely merge. I only wanted a few interactive times, maybe 3-4 would be I’ll need. They will be flashbacks, memories. They first one will be a tape recorder, it will have the main character Vera’s husband telling her where to find the next three clues. She finds this tape recorder outside an abandoned building. Her husband (in the tape recorder) tells her to question the police themselves about past cases.

 

 

Contextual Awareness Worksheet

My target audience will be teenagers and young adult men, as it is a fantasy project. these are typical fans of fantasy media. I want bold fonts, vibrant colours associated with fantasy such as blue, green, red and purple. As fantasy games such as league of legends, world at Warcraft and guild war are primary PC and to lesser degree console as well. The resolution will be a standard 1280 x 720 so even people with mediocre PC’s can play it. screen size 4.7  and the controls will be dependent one what platform. keyboard to controller. In terms of ethics, i don’t think anything offensive will show up in the story/product as it wouldn’t be necessary. As it is a crime based story; drugs may be referenced. but it is fantasy as well. laws in another world would be different.

I have taken a large amount of these factors from other fantasy media products,

everything is over the top, unrealistic (hence the name) and colourful. Nothing is off bounds; no restraints. aside from ethical restraints of course. like racial hate and cultural hate as well. However, racial hate is sometimes infused in the story, and as long as its carefully commercialized it would be okay. Like if its just racial hate without any kind of merit then its not okay. But if there’s something to learn from, then that makes it okay commercially.

I chose PC as the main platform purely to ensure no limits in graphically potential, consoles struggle on some games at maximum graphics. Hence why console versions don’t (typically) have settings such as FOV (field of view) and you cant change the resolution on consoles. They run more or less on default. But on PC you can customize anything and everything to your liking. Which i think suits a fantasy fan, to change something to whatever they want to. Just like in the game itself. Consoles restrict you.

When it comes to the legal side of things i would like to use copyrighted music, even if making my own music would save time, i believe using other peoples songs a great way of marketing. If i use a Led Zeppelin song for a battle in the trailer or even in the actual product, it would interest the fans of led zeppelin. causing them to at least check out the product.

 

Evaluation of Ideas

First Idea

It’ll called Phantom House, aliens steal humans from earth and place them in a house and the last person alive will have their memory erased and will be placed back in earth. The interactive narrative will come from the alien mainframe were the security cameras is what you this will be 3/5 in difficulty and requires skill in filming and editing.

Second Idea

The interior of a car front seat. The interactive part is were you click on certain items in the car and when you do a small part of the story is revealed. This of course requires skill in filming and editing, and I would consider this to be a 4/5 in difficulty.

Third Idea

An abandoned house (maybe a hut or cabin) its a crime scene, with body outlines and bloodstains and so on. it will be a narrated experience, it will be in first experience. and when you click on a part of the crime scene say you click a knife, the character when pull out a file and read from it. revealing the mystery. the difficultly will be 3/5

 

 

Idea’s

The ‘Phantom House’ is an idea I had, a group of people from earth are captured by Aliens and wake up in an asylum. (A mental hospital from 1800-1900’s) The aliens do this in order to observe human behavior in moments of panic and stress. Its essentially a hunger games ran by aliens, and the last man/woman standing will be sent home to Earth. With their memory erased.

So, the interactive side to this will consist of 6 security cameras, you click one of the cameras and you’ll see what is happening I that room.

‘Plain Sight’ is an idea I had in which, your character sits in the front seat of a car, the interactive part is when you click on an item in the car, a small part of a story is revealed. This is a story about a man trying to find out where his wife has disappeared to. He wakes up during the night (the night will set the mood) he then runs to his after realizing his wife is nowhere in the house. And see’s an assortment of clues.

‘Not so empty’ is an idea I had that slightly piggy backed off of the previous idea, however this time the mystery is based in an abandoned house, or a small hut. its a crime scene, the story will be narrated by the main character. You’re an investigator. And the reason this idea is similar is because of the interactive part. Clicking on items will reveal the story.