Platypotamus

Next week (week 9), we will be doing the playtest that we were supposed to do today.  Make sure you have a complete rough draft version of the instructions for your game, as well as the game itself.  You will be testing by passing the instructions to the group, and watching to see if they can play right without your intervention.

The final version of your instructions are no longer due next week, but the following week.

You should be making significant progress on the presentation of your game.  Remember, it needs to be portfolio quality by the end of the quarter.

For the rest of the quarter, you will be working on two projects.

The portfolio site will follow the same essential format as the Children's site and the Tourism site. That is, next week, you've got 3 layouts due, and we'll be critiquing them and sending you to your final destination. You'll have to have the entire site done by the end of the quarter.

The second project will be the completion of one of your two previous sites. You have the option of taking either your children's site or your tourism site and completing five pages of it. These will not be publicly critiqued in class, so if you want feedback as you work on it, you'll have to ask for it. This is also due the last class of the quarter.

A fantastic article over at gamasutra discusses stories in sandbox games.  It thoroughly discusses the various scenarios in which story can play into these games, and how to best incorporate it there.  Game students, read this article.

It also mentions one of the best (free) indie games you've never played.

For this assigment, you must design a kiosk interface.  We're going to do this one a little bit differently than any of the web interface projects we've done so far, so make sure you read through the instructions carefully. Read the rest of this entry »

Due next class, you must have the rough draft of your design document done.

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The details of the narrative section of the group project can be found below.  Due next class!

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As part of your homework assignment, you must design a site map for your travel site. Below, I've gathered links to several site maps for you:

• http://pages.ebay.com/sitemap.html
• http://www.apple.com/sitemap/
• http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/tableofcontents/
• http://www.google.com/sitemap.html
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/sitemap.html
• http://www.wired.com/services/sitemap/

This is going to be quite similar to the second step of the children's website, though a bit more specific. For all the nitty gritty details, read on.

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The next project is going to be a tourism site.

Choose any sort of tourist location that fits into one of the following categories: amusement park, outdoor recreational park, ski resort, beach resort, cruise line, museum, historical landmark, zoo, or aquarium.

Once you have chosen your client, assess the needs for the site. Many of these needs will be relatively standard for any sort of tourism based site (price packages, directions, etc). Some tourist locations will have more specific requirements as well though. Make a list of the things users will most likely need to use your site to find, and ensure that these things are easy to reach!

Once you've assessed the needs of your site, do three layout mockups, similar to those you did for the children's website. Make sure that positioning and color choice comes across in your quick sketches. Make sure that the information users are seeking is easily found.

Please be sure to have these files ready digitally at the start of class to present them for critique.

Due at the beginning of class next week, turned in digitally, as a .jpg/.gif/.png

Your mockups should be blueprints for the actual constructed pieces, NOT concept work for a digital interpretation.  Have a plan for going from these mockups to your actual constructed playable board game.

Details below...

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