Skip to content
Pippin Barr edited this page Feb 26, 2018 · 6 revisions

Assigned: Monday, 5 February 2018
Rough prototype due: in class, Monday, 12 February 2018
References due: in class, Monday, 12 February 2018
Full prototype due: in class, Monday, 26 February 2018
Process journal due: end of course

Components of this project:

Brief

Create a prototype version of TANKS! based on an intervention into the sound for the game. You can change other aspects of the game too (e.g. models, camera, lighting) but you should only do this to the extent it supports your SOUND intervention.

Your intervention should be experimental in the sense that you should strive to create a new gameplay experience that is different to the original TANKS! game. Your experiment can be fun, strange, artistic, narrative, serious, political, or anything you like so long as it is done intentionally and with thought and attention. Crucially, your intervention should change the gameplay experience of the original TANKS! in a creative way.

Time is limited for the project so work hard but also be careful with scope: you don't have time to make a masterpiece. Focus on making a small but interesting variation based on the topic. You can create a masterpiece version later.

Along with the prototype, you should add a number of references to the Sound References page and be ready to speak about them in the second week of the topic (12 February 2018), especially as they relate to your rough prototype.

Teamwork is fine and even encouraged. Teams will naturally be expected to produce more complex and ambitious prototypes.

References

Due: Ready for class on 12 February 2018

Go to the Sound References page on this wiki and add your name as a section, followed by at least three references you find relevant to the topic of sound (you will need a GitHub account to do this). The references can be specific games, texts about games, videos about games, or media about other relevant subjects (such as music, foley in cinema, or procedural sound generation for example). Each reference should have a brief (2-3 sentences) explanation of its relevance to the topic, and you should be ready to talk about the references you add in class.

Your references cannot all be videogames.

Videogame references must include a link to video or screenshots that allow the game to be shown to the class without playing it (although playing it for the class is acceptable if you can arrange this and it is important to the points you want to make)

No duplicate references allowed on the page unless you have a radically different understanding of the reference and want to write about that.

All members of a team should write separate reference sections.

Due: End of course as part of the Final Project

As with all prototypes in this course, you must keep a process journal that details your design and implementation process.

A minimum of six process journal entries for this project are required.

All members of a team should write separate process journals.

See the Process Journal page for more information about the journal form itself.

Rough prototype

Due: Playable for class on 12 February 2018

Brief: Create one or more rough prototypes of ideas you have about sound based on the TANKS! framework. The prototype(s) should be enough to play and get a sense of the ideas you're working with and you should be able to speak about what you're trying to achieve. The prototype(s) don't need to be polished.

Submission: You must provide screenshot and brief description of your rough prototype on the Sound Rough Prototype page by 11:59PM on the due date. You will present your prototype in class to Pippin (this can be done in-editor).

Rough prototypes will be graded:

  • Excellent (A+): prototype is surprisingly engaging and represents thorough and creative work with the materials to convey a specific effect/idea/emotion/experience particularly well
  • Good (B+): prototype is an interesting take on the brief with sufficient technical, conceptual, and aesthetic work to get across its idea quite well
  • Adequate (C+): prototype works, but is a minimal interpretation of the brief with not much technical or conceptual effort
  • Fail (F): prototype was not ready for the playtest, too broken to play, or so minimal that it displays a total lack of effort and imagination

Full prototype

Due: Playable for class on 26 February 2018

Brief: Work with one of your rough prototypes to polish it enough to better convey the ideas about sound you're thinking about. This may mean improving the gameplay, adding interface elements, adding relevant art direction, etc. Naturally you may also want to start with a new prototype entirely, but be aware of time.

The resulting prototype should be "self-explanatory" in the sense that the innovative aspect of sound is experienced directly by the player and coherent and recognisable without explanation. (Although obviously you should be able to speak intelligently about your design process and decisions.)

Submission: You must provide screenshot, a brief description and a link to a Mac build of your prototype on the Sound Full Prototype page by 11:59PM on the due date (if you're working in Windows you may need to install the Mac build module for Unity). You will present your prototype in class for a playtesting session (this can be in editor).

Full prototypes will graded:

  • Excellent (A range): prototype is surprisingly engaging and represents thorough and creative work with the materials to convey a specific effect/idea/emotion/experience particularly well
  • Good (B range): prototype is an interesting take on the brief with sufficient technical, conceptual, and aesthetic work to get across its idea quite well
  • Adequate (C range): prototype works, but is a minimal interpretation of the brief with not much technical or conceptual effort
  • Poor (D range): prototype exists, but represents an extremely low effort and has more or less no conceptual strength
  • Fail (F): prototype was not ready for the playtest, too broken to play, or so minimal that it displays a total lack of effort and imagination

Remember that you will have time during the Final Project to further polish your work to a releaseable state, so for this project focus only on polish/improvements that are key to conveying your core ideas.