Interactive Prototype III - Statement of Delivery

Interactive Prototype III – Statement of Delivery

Concept Prototype

This prototype will explore the concept of a mashup between two classic games, Minesweeper and Dots. Two players take turns connecting two adjacent dots with horizontal or vertical lines to form boxes with lines on 4 sides. When a player claims a box, the corresponding square in the mine grid is revealed, which can be numbers (that give points, and correspondingly reveal the number of mines in adjacent squares), or mines, which they lose points upon revealing. Players click dots using a mouse to create the lines, or can alternatively use the WASD to select a particular boxed area, and then the arrow keys to select a particular side of the box (top, left, bottom, right) to draw a line.

Visit my blog for more details on game rules, prototype testing, and play an early prototype of the game yourself at http://jasonh-deco2300.blogspot.com.au.

Form of Prototype

From Prototype II, the prototype is a combination of a digital game with physical inputs. The digital part of the game, which is mostly the game board, and score board, is coded in Actionscript 3 (Flash) and played on PC. Additions to the digital part of the game in Prototype III included the functionality of the reset button, and also an indication when the game had ended and telling which player had won the game.

The physical inputs are controlled using aluminium foil on a square piece of cardboard (held together with Blu-tack), with 4 central inputs for box selection, and 4 outer inputs for edge selection. MakeyMakey allows interfacing between the controller and the game by use of wires and alligator clips, and connecting to the PC via USB. MakeyMakey is special in that it allows almost anything that conducts even slightly to be turned into a physical input.

The MakeyMakey interfacing chip and connecting wires are neatly stored in the box below the square piece of cardboard.

Changes that were made between Prototype II, testing of Prototype II and Prototype III to the physical MakeyMakey controller include replacing the central Blu-tack inputs with short aluminium strips, two earth ‘ring’s for players to wear to connect the MakeyMakey to earth via alligator cable, and metal strips that could be placed to give the impression a player was ‘placing’ a line onto the game board.

There were also attempts to make a ‘dark horse’ prototype, by adding the element of cash, and being able to ‘buy squares in the game, functionality was added to the digital part of the prototype.

Figure 1: Screenshot of Mines Between the Lines (MBTL) v1.5 with full keyboard interaction and box selection pointer.

Figure 2: Screenshot of Mines Between the Lines (MBTL) v1.5a, Dark Horse Prototype, with sprites for cash, representing money added into the game.

Figures 3-4: Photos of the updated physical input controller, with ‘edge selecting tool’

For Prototype III, instead of using a bulky metal ruler or fingers to select the edges, I custom made aluminium foil strips that roughly match the size of the square on the face of the controller, to give the players a sense of placing an edge onto the game board.

Purpose of Prototype

The purpose of this prototype is to further explore additional features, and playing multiple games of MBTL with the addition of the reset button and end of game notification. The dark horse prototype is an experiment to add a new dimension to the game, in the form of cash as a form of currency used to buy squares.

Testing and Feedback

For testing, users will play through a game on a 5x5 dotted grid using physical inputs to control the selection of dots. They will additionally will able to play the game using mouse input and/or keyboard.

For feedback, it will be provided through a combination of verbal and written feedback. Participants will be asked to write down answers to the following questions (which have been improved from Prototype II):

1. How much do you feel like you are “placing” a line on screen by placing a metal bar onto the edges of the physical input “box”?

2. Are 8 buttons, 4 for selecting a box, 4 for selecting a side of a box (a line) too many/too complex?

3. I have considered adding in additional score popups (+1 points, +3 points, “You uncovered a mine!”), as a player takes a turn, to make things clearer. What do you think of this?

4. What other game controls would you like in the game? (Eg: select grid size, number of mines etc)

5. [Dark Horse Prototype Only] Earning cash to buy squares is an important addition to the Dark Horse prototype. Comment on how this affects the gameplay (eg: another layer of strategy, makes the game unbalanced, makes the game feel like Monopoly etc.)

6. List any queries you may have about the game rules, or strategy.

7. Any other questions or comments?

Decisions Made

For Prototype III, there were several directions I could take my prototype in, and limitations and time constraints meant that I was not able to fully explore every option. I could continue my game along the standard route, adding in the option to flag squares, and other features from Minesweeper and Dots game, or I could take the Dark Horse prototype route, where I formulated an idea to replace/complement points in the game with cash that could be used to buy squares, place mines, steal points and other actions.

Standard game continuation:

I removed the ability to take another turn after a player captures a box. During Prototype II testing it was found to be too confusing, as Player 1 would accidentally take Player 2’s turn and vice versa.

I decided to add in the reset and end of game functionality first, as it was relatively simple to code.

When deciding on how to code the flagging option, I ran into problems with the opposing player able to see where the flag was placed and avoiding the square, when the opposing player could have been about to uncover that square anyway. I later decided that you could only flag a square if you were going to immediately claim that box for yourself.

Dark Horse Prototype:

This prototype involved being able to earn cash, simply by uncovering lines. Players would earn $10-$40 for drawing a single line (determined randomly), and could buy an uncovered square for $100. This means that when that square was uncovered, they would be able to receive double the usual points for that square (if 3 points, they now receive 6 points), if they had bought that square. For squares that had already been bought and uncovered, they had a chance to steal points from a square by playing $150, which would result in an opponents claimed square losing its value (a 4 point worth square could be worth 0 points to the opponent afterwards). This had a chance of failing however.

I was unable to implement all these specific rules in my coding, however it would have been very fun to test out this planned prototype in full.