Tuesday 8th, Monday 14th October 2019.
Paper Prototype - Sprint 2. Scrum Master: Christian Rafferty
Overview
This week, we focused on the design and continued development of our paper prototype. This included outlining sounds, and finalising Moscow.
Product
The main products of this week were:
- Paper Prototype
- Sourced Sound Effects
- Edited Sound Effects
- Moscow Outline
Process
Paper Prototype
We continued the development of our paper prototype throughout the week. We worked as a group to finish the development of our modules. Nathan sourced a set of textures for us to print. We then outlined each set of textures using a ruler and pencil. Once complete, we could begin cutting each texture out. We applied our textures to the modules using Pritt-stick glue.
I wasn't happy with how our prototype looked - there was little cohesion to it. I decided that we should add paint. I asked Fiachra if I could use paint from the Art Studio - he agreed. I decided to use brown and black coloured paint. The inside of the box would be painted black, while the outside of the box would be painted brown. This would help to make the box look more like a fantasy chest - something that Christian had suggested.
Sourced Sound Effects
We decided to add sounds to our paper prototype. This will allow us to communicate the emotion and atmosphere of our game. Additionally, it would allow us to demonstrate one of our key design features - descriptive sound design.
I was tasked with sourcing a list of sounds. First, I needed to identify each sound that would be in our game. I decided to split this into two categories - Diegetic and Non-Diegetic.
I decided to place myself in the main character shoes. I asked myself questions like 'What sounds can the character hear?' and 'When can they hear them?'. The first obvious sound that came to my mind was music. Music will play throughout the game. I also considered interaction sounds, such as footsteps, combat, user interface and enemies.
The full list of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sounds can be seen below:
Diegetic
- Fist Attack, Weapon Attack
- Miss Attack, Block Attack, Dodge Attack
- Footsteps, Turn Around, Bump Into Wall
- Drink Potion, Item Twinkle, Collect Item
- Door Locked, Door Unlocked, Use Key
- Player Take Damage, Player Death
- Enemy Take Damage, Enemy Death
- Enemy Growl
- Cultist Chants
Non-Diegetic
- Atmospheric & General Music
- Victory Music
- Death Music
- Battle Music
- UI Interactions
- Low Health
Once my list of sounds was complete, I was able to begin my search. I sourced most of my sounds online. I used Audacity to record various sounds and songs that I found on YouTube. These sounds will be placeholders for the time being. I used a Zoom recorder to tape myself and Caoilinn making various sounds. This includes the 'Player Take Damage' and 'Enemy Death' sounds.
Edited Sound Effects
I sorted through my collection of sounds to determine which clips sounded best. I associated each sound with an item on my list. For some items, I decided to select two or three sounds which can be used interchangeably. This will be used to break-up repetitive sounds, such as an attack.
I used Audacity to edit my clips. This allowed me to layer and trim each clip to suit my needs. For example, I layered multiple similar sounds to create the 'death' sound effect.
Once complete, I downloaded the tracks onto my phone. From there, I used a soundboard application to store each sound. This application will allow me to trigger each sound in real-time, as events happen throughout the presentation of our game.
Moscow Outline
I worked with my team to outline our project features. We then organized them using the Moscow system - Must have, Should have, Could have, and Would like to have.
Must-Have
- Movement System
- Turn-based System
- Health System
- Chance-base Combat System
- Tile-based Level System
- Collectible/Item Pickup System
- Interactive Objects
- Enemy Logic/AI
- Win/Lost State
Should Have
- Checkpoints/Save Points
- Customizable Keybindings
- Inventory System
- Descriptive Audio
- User-friendly UI
Could Have
- Auto-Save
- Party System
- Dungeon Designer
- Text-To-Speech
Would like to Have
- Multiplayer
- Random Map Generation
Issues
We reviewed the burndown of our previous sprint on Tuesday. The chart revealed that we agreed to dedicate 50 hours of work to the project during sprint 1. However, only 20 hours of work were completed. We realised that our original approach to allocating hours was inappropriate for the tasks that we were doing. We amended our approach for the current sprint.