Leah's Game Design

The potential procedure I would use to recruit playtesters will be similar to those presented in Chapter 9 by Fullerton.  I think I would start with self-testing so I can experiment with fundamental concepts.  Next, I would playtest with confidants. I would gather friends and family to play my game once it gets to a version that they can play without much intervention from me. I will give them the prototype I have created and with that they should have enough information to begin playing.  After I have a clearly defined set of rules, I'll want to move on to playtesting with people I do not know. This will give me a fresh perspective and insight as I work to improve my game. Maybe I can post up an ad online, at colleges, or places of business to gather my playtesters. My target audience is any person who wants to learn more about gardening, so maybe I would want to use some people from different beginner gardening groups as well.  Preparation: When I'm testing with t...

This week I started working more on my final prototype project for this class. The paper prototype I presented in last week's blog may have illustrated the game in a clear format, but I thought it would be difficult to illustrate the game actions, user control interface, gameplay rules, and feedback/output if I continued with this physical paper-type prototype. Instead, I started creating my prototype on the computer so that it would be easier to illustrate all these aspects of the game. I found this video below about successful prototyping and used it to think about how I would create my own prototype. I haven't created a visual to show you yet, but this is the idea I currently have for the slides I'm going to create on my prototype:  Slide 1: Main Page with "click to play" button and selector with easy, moderate, and difficult options. Slide 2: Map with hardiness zones and 6-8 dots scattered throughout the map to show garden locations the player can choose. Pos...

The next step in my game design was creating a prototype. Fullerton says, "Many first-time designers would rather jump in and start making the "real" game rather than starting with a prototype," which was definitely true in my case. However, I think creating a working model of my idea allowed me to test its feasibility and make needed improvements.  I started out with a physical prototype using slips of paper. I think starting with a paper prototype allowed me to focus on the gameplay rather than the technology behind the game. I started off with two pieces of paper taped together and drew a grid on them to mimic what the player would see. Then I sketched in features and used pieces of paper to represent plants. Below is an image of my paper prototype for Garden Mania . The player will be presented with a backyard that may or may not have some features already. In this scenario, there was a paved patio and walkway to the center of the yard, along with two raised be...

  This week I have been thinking about  Garden Mania's play scaffolds. I think the best way to scaffold learning information will be to begin with a tutorial to help players understand the features of the game. This tutorial will provide on-screen guidance to walk the player through the game actions: choosing a garden location, planting plants, accessing inventory, etc. For example, the on-screen guidance might say, "Choose some plants that prefer shade in this area." This will remind the player that they not only need to look for something that looks good, but something that will thrive in that area. The tutorial level will consist of only a one or two garden locations and a limited inventory. This will help keep the player from becoming too overwhelmed with an abundance of features. The tutorial will be particularly helpful for understanding how to move the screen, locating places to lay objects, navigating and searching the inventory, identifying icons, and more. As th...