Week 9

This week we had to finish everything up by Friday. Timon and i went to school every day this week from 10 am till around closing time which is 22:00 pm or something.

We had to paint every side of the board game, we also had to make the puzzle and paint that one too. I do know now how to use the laser cutter. The first try on making the puzzle didn’t end up well. Once it was painted the pieces wouldn’t fit anymore. So since we needed more paint we went out and got paint as well as sandpaper so we could try to make the pieces fit again. But then we were approached by one of our class mates who had a Illustrator file with loads of gears on it which we could use for our puzzle.

So we threw the first one away and made another one. Painted it and hooray! it worked. the last thing we needed to do was painting the numbers on the board game and hand it in.

Once the board game was finished we focussed on the app. That Friday we couldn’t work that long on it at school since it would close earlier. So a friend of ours offered us to work at his place on the project. Timon and i used photoshop to make the design of the app. We used Annelie’s backgrounds and made sure to include our monster Rainbow in it as well since he will be the kids guide through the app and board game. We wanted it to look child friendly, loads of colors, a funny monster that helps them and not to many difficult buttons.

We divided our work so Timon worked on a few slides from the app so did i. Later on when we finished it we add text to it and put it in the Marvell App so we could make a prototype out of it. This way you can see how it could’ve looked like if it was a real app. It still need some fixing here and there but we still have time to work on it.

https://marvelapp.com/7dgcihe (this is the URL to the prototype app)

The app starst off with a small animation of Rainbow asking the kids for help. Soon after that the story about the monster world will be explained once again. After the story you will end up at the main menu of the app. The main menu includes: The monsters, The board game, How does the game work?,  The puzzle and Exit.

The monsters: You will get a chance to get to know the monsters a little bit more. There is a slide in which every monster is displayed. With just a simple tap on one of the monsters they will appear bigger and underneath there will be information on what the monsters are like personality wise.

The board game: In this tab the board game will be explained to the kids beforehand. It also contains a tab with cards. These cards will have different colors which resemble the pieces of the puzzle the kids need to find. During the game Rainbow will keep giving the kids positive feedback and help when needed.

How does the game work?: Just a simple tab which contains the rules of the board game.

The puzzle: This tab will contain all of the missing puzzle pieces. Once you tap on one of the pieces you will receive more information on how this puzzle piece works.

Exit: To end the game and start a new one.

It still needs to be worked on so we will make sure to improve the prototype we have made right now.

 

 

 

Week 8

This week Timon and i worked on building the board game. At first we went to TOP1TOYS for a giant dice. We wanted it to be huge and soft so we didn’t had to worry about the kids losing it or hurting others with it or even eat it 😉

After that we went to the ACTION to buy paint and brushes so we could give our board game a more finished look. Later on we made a list for all the stuff we needed from the craft store. Then we went out and collected everything we needed. We used this thing called MDF (i don’t know the right word in English) but didn’t thought about the thickness of the material so we thought we measured everything just perfect but then find out that it sticks out a little bit because of the thickness.

Once we got the materials we made a plan on which colors we would use for which layer:

Ground: Black

Bottom Layer: Gradient black/blue

Middle Layer: Gradient blue/purple

Top Layer: Gradient purple/ping

We had to paint it a couple of times since the paint dried up too dark. So it took us a lot of time to get it done. By the end of the day we weren’t finished so i decided to bring everything home to continue painting.

Once i finished the backgrounds i asked the rest of the team members on what i should draw/paint on the sides of the board game so it matches the story and app etc. otherwise it would look very boring.

So late at night i drew/paint trees on it which you can also find in one of Annelie’s backgrounds. I tried to match the pastel colors to the ones she had used.

The following day i met up with Timon at school so we could continue working on the board game.

Week 7

This week i worked once more on the board game, since it still needs a manual on how it will work.

So we were thinking about making a scavenger hunt out of it. The kids need to find the missing pieces of the puzzle. Every 6 steps has their own unique color which resembles a card you can find in the app. Once you find the right card that matches the color of the step you’re on you can find a hint on what piece of the puzzle you have to look for.

The puzzle pieces will resemble the machine parts of the portal. And the monsters need the help of the kids to put it back together so they can close it.

I also made a few sketches on how i wanted the interface of the app to look like. Including loading screens, main menu, a tab that tells the kids the story once again, get to know the monsters and a manual on how the board game and puzzle work.

I was thinking about using Annelie’s backgrounds for the app so the style would match. We also include the monster called Rainbow in it. Rainbow will guide the kids through the board game and give them feedback on how they’re doing so they have to include the app with everything they do.

Here are a few slides of the design for the app. We still need to work it out.

Week 6

This week I only went to 1 out of the 2 meetings. I was sick since last Friday, on Wednesday I went to school but felt very ill afterwards, Thursday I wasn’t feeling much better so after that day I stayed at home and took some rest.

But during the meeting I made a sketch for how we wanted the board game to look like. We decided that the round shapes probably wouldn’t work so we made them square shaped. We also thought about making a small stair or small steps on the side so they can climb the steps with the pawn to go to the next layer of the board game. We also thought about the look and feel. At first we wanted to use black and grey’s since the portal turns grey once the parents find out about it. But we asked the rest of our group members on what we should do and we all agreed to kind of simulate the colors we would use for the portal, and which were used in the background. So we came to the conclusion to use loads of black, blue’s, purples, and pink tones.

We wanted to make the steps look like paint splatters, later on we decided to use a different color every 6 steps. Since we use a dice kids can never move more than 6 steps each time they roll the dice. The board game will contain only one pawn, so the kids need to work together to get to the top and close the portal.

Next week we will continue working on the board game and sketch an interface for the app. We also need to redo our monsters since some of the kids wanted theirs to look more human like or more like the one’s they drew.

Week 5

This week we’ve met up 3 times. Last meeting we’ve all picked out a media that we wanted to work on. Me and Timon will be working together on the board game and the app.

During one of the meetups we did a brainstorm session and looked around for some inspiration. We wanted to make something along the lines of the already existing board game called “Game of the Goose”. Its build in a way that makes you go around in circles to the center of the board game.

When we agreed the idea to make something like that we made a quick sketch. We wanted to make some sort of layered board game so the kids had to “climb up” to get to the top.

This was the first “concept idea” we had. But as cool as it may look we found out that it isn’t ideal. The rings on the sides are kind of steep so if you move the pawn you will probably fall off of the board game.

We also had this idea to build a portal on top of it. So the board game, the story, animation etc. would all match up with each other. We do want to make it interactive by using a arduino, a press button and some LED-lights.

It’s still in the very first stadium of the process so we have a lot to think about.

Meet Mr.Fluffy

As you can see in week 3 we got to meet the monsters the kids drew for us. Since we we’re with 5 people in our team and there are 5 monsters we thought it would be the easiest and quickest way to just pick one and digitally draw them. The only problem was, we all have a different style of drawing it. Some like it to be done traditionally and others think its easier to do it digitally.

To make sure that the style would kind of match we agreed that we wanted it to be a bit like flat design. Later on we found out that it’s still not really matching so we thought about using pastel colors, since it’s also in the backgrounds.

One of the things i was having trouble with was myself and the way i work. I’m a perfectionist. I don’t like messy work. So i drew my monster digitally and with loads of detail. But it took me quite some time because i was never satisfied with my work. So for next time even if it’s just a quick sketch, i have to learn to let go and that it’s okay if it’s not perfect.

 

Week 4

This week we did a meetup on Thursday, Wednesday and Friday.  On Thursday we discussed what concept and storyline we wanted to use.

We had a top 3:

1. Alice in wonderland theme
2. Parents boycotting the monster world 😉
3. Kids rule the world (somehow monsters are involved

After discussing each concept we came to the conclusion that we wanted to use the idea of the kids parents knowing about the monster world and they kind of want to get rid off it, and then the kid steps in and helps the monsters build a shield for the portal so the kid’s parents cannot enter the monster world anymore.

We also discussed which media’s we wanted to use.

TOP 5:

1. AR/VR -> Used to say goodbye to the monsters in the end. Maybe in the board-game?
2. Book -> The book is full of backstory and subtile hints to help the kids during their adventure.
3. Laptop -> Used to display animations, small game like structure.
4. Board Game -> Which we will link to the book/AR/App
5. App -> Fill in information to get hints, helps you search and find the items, that are needed to build a shield for the portal.

What went right:

• We made plans on what to do next week
• People got assigned to the media they wanted to work with
• We try to meet up 2/3 times a week
• We work well together

What went wrong?:

• Sometimes we get stuck/confused about what’s going to happen
• Communication by using mobile device has te be better
• We need to keep track of the time we have left for this project and the time we have left to build/make things.

What will we be doing next week? :

I need to finish the detailed drawing of mr.Fluffy so we can use it.  Everyone got a task in what media they wanted to do, i choose board-game and app, i will try to find inspiration for the look and feel of these media. I also have to make a sketch of the monster that is assigned to the board-game and app. Then me and Timon are going to be having a brainstorm session about the design of the two media’s.

I also found some inspiration for the art style of the media’s

 

 

 

Week 3

What did we do this week?:

This week we used our time to brainstorm about concepts. We wrote down eight of them and try to work them out a bit to get a better view on what each concept will do.

We also tried to give the monsters a name, because we didn’t really had a reference on what to call them. After that we assigned the monsters to each person of our group. We later on gave the monsters personalities so it would be easier to draw them from a certain point of view.

Later on i drew my monster in photoshop, early on my perfectionism would kick in and i acted out on it. The drawing is still not finished. In my opinion it’s not perfect enough. There is enough room for improvement.

What are we going to do next week? :

We’ve got a scheduled meetup on Tuesday, We will discuss our concept ideas and hopefully we will decide on what concept we are going to be using. By the end of next week we need to send our user journey to Maaike. She will give it to the people of concordia who will decide if they either like the idea or if we need to change a few things here and there.

 

 

First Post!

After the briefing last Wednesday I suggested to be the one that made the team blog. Just to start off right, plus it gives me the feeling that even though we just started the project, i already got a chance to do something for it. Which makes me feel good :).

After setting up the basics, and making sure everyone got a individual blog to post on, i invited the rest off my teammates to participate the team blog.

They can all post, edit, add pictures, etc. on their individual blog. Next to the fact that we will write about our experiences/progress during this project, we will also keep track off our Retrospective/To do list. Just to have a clear vision about what has to be done, and what have we already achieved. What are we proud of and what has to be changed.

Tomorrow in between classes we will have a group meeting, where we will discuss our plans for the upcoming days/week.

 

(A sneak peek of the monsters that the kids drew for us 🙂 )

 

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Week 2

Today is the day we will meet the other two group members! First we needed to go to Concordia, where we will not only meet up with our client and team members but we also will get a explanation on what our assignment is and what they expect from us.

During the presentation of Liesbeth i scribbled down all the information from which i thought was going to be usefull later on. Afterwards we met up with Chris and Annelie. All of us hit off very well very quick so it’s going to be fun working on this project with these people.

Since Annelie and Chris are from the international study there was a small problem. Our schedules didn’t really match up so we had to meet in our spare time. We got together at least 2 times a week and stayed in touch with Whatsapp.

Next week we will brainstorm about concepts and the storyline.