Interactive Media

I think I am learning...

[robyneh94]

Network Effect

The Network Effect has to be one of the strangest interactive media I  have come across. 

Time limited to 8 minutes it is short and effective. Its disjointed sound lead me to think that it was intended as an almost dystopian interactive media. AImed predominantly at showing facts and figures in a unique way.  

At the top of the web page there was a sine of disjoited words that if you hover your mouse over them would display words like laugh, cook, fight. if you then clicked on them it would show people laugh or cooking or fighting, along with the sounds about fight or whatever it was that you clicked on.

A the bottom of the page was some facts and figures which effectively told the story of each word. for cooking the figure was over 70% of Females cook and the sounds in the background was a man saying he didn’t like to cook.  

In a way it was shocking and thought provoking and powerful. It showed the vast inequality that we have in societies across the globe. 

[robyneh94]

The Red Ribbon - Audience

My hope for my individual project is that it will appeal to a wide range of people. Because of the puzzle aspect of the game I believe  it will appeal to and older audience. However i believe that the more darker aspects of the story appeal more to a contemporary audience. 

It is for that reason that i am classifying the audience for this app as 16 - 45 years old. With a view to working out marketing strategies to appeal to an older audience and users. 

[robyneh94]

The Red Ribbon

Project Title: The Red Ribbon 

Premise: A 3D puzzle game that has a strong narrative. The narrative will dictate the puzzles that the user comes across.

Platform: App for smartphone and Tablet. 

The Interface: The app begins with a title screen and has a selection menu: New game, Continue game and Settings. In new game there will be a selection of three spaces in which to save the game. Settings will control the audio (music and Sound) if the user turns the sound down the app will come up with a warning message saying that for certain aspects of the game the user will need audio. From the new game screen the user touches the screen to either zoom into a particular section of a room or zoom out and move around  Everything will be from the users point of view. 

The Story: The story is set in 1920′s Edinburgh and is a mystery. The user is a private detective and in the post one day receives a small package. in that package, is a red ribbon that has holes cot into it. The first puzzles comes from deciphering the code on the ribbon there will be items and tools to help the user decipher it. This code mentions a missing person that the user has been searching for.  This then leads the user to the next location where the rest of the story and puzzles pan out. The next location is an old manor house it appears to be deserted. the user will tap various locations eventually it will lead to the servants entrance, where the user finds a key and unlocks the door. as the user enters the room the door slams shut behind them. The only way to go is forward. From there the user will continue room to room. Each room has different puzzles to unlock the next room and a clue as to the where about of the missing person. 

[robyneh94]

Twitter

When everybody else in the world began the phase of twittering and tweeting there life’s in as few words as possible, I completely missed the boat. It left the harbour without me and as I tried to swim out to catch up with the boat I was snagged on rocks.

Twitter has never been my favourite social media site. From lost passwords and usernames, which led to not being able to access my account (or accounts as it now stands), to trying to tweet regularly (and failing miserably).  

I have never found twitter to be engaging as a source of interactive entertainment. To me, it is mind-numbingly dull and I see no purpose for it. I saw no reason to tweet about every moment of my mediocre existence (seriously, no one is that interesting). I found no use for it in terms of blogs and articles that I might like to read. If I want to look up something, I use Google or Facebook (or an actual, real life book (the kindle counts))

About 2 years ago I went back to try an explore twitter more fully. I can now access my account easily, (now have a password and username I can remember) and only seem to use it for live scores for tennis and rugby if I’m at work. For me twitter has failed and unfortunately, I will probably never be on-board with it.

[robyneh94]

Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things

When I walked into class on Thursday, (although I had been warned in advance) I was still expecting to have a sit-down lecture.

That was not the case. A full interactive experience was what awaited me and my fellow classmates. From spilling out our experiences with our favourite (or least favourite) objects. To a murder mystery’s that could only be described as bizarre and hilarious in their ridiculousness.

I love how we all created a narrative out of the oddest things, such as, in my groups case, a vampire bat. It was useful to see how everyday objects could be interpreted differently by different people and how these objects could be made sense of through story and narrative.

All in all is was a very fun and informative experience one I would very much like to repeat.

[robyneh94]

Individual Interactive Media Project

My initial idea for my Individual Interactive Media project, is to create an app for smartphones and tablets that involves a puzzle game with a story line.

Initial research

The initial research for this project began with match three gaming apps such as Candy Crush.

However, I noticed that while Candy Crush is a very addictive game it lacks a narrative which will keep a user engaged for long periods of time. There is very little reward for what the user is accomplishing.

 I then looked at games such as Gardenscapes and Homescapes. Like Candy Crush, both games use a match three style game. However, both of these games have a more in-depth story line and rewards for completing each level which can be used to furnish rooms or gardens withing the game.

Next Steps

The next stage of my research, I will look at more complicated puzzle games that also contain story lines such as The Room series.

[robyneh94]

Exoriare

When I first opened the web browser onto Exoriare, I unfortunately was faced with a blank page as my web browser was not updated with Adobe flash player.

I up dated the flash player and was then faced with an interactive story. I had to type commands into the computer that would allow me to do things within the story. For example, opening up a mail box and reading a letter.

At the start I thought this was some sort of murder mystery, by the time I had to press the red button however I realized that this may be some sort of Matrix style game. I, of course, press the big red button (why would you not? There is something about a big red button that almost compels you into pressing it) and …

Nothing. The story ended up stuck on a loading page and I was left hanging.

All in all, the experience of Exoriare was a good one. It was interesting and had me hooked from the offset. I would have liked to go further within the story but obviously that was not to be.  

[robyneh94]

The Sims is a life simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The first game was originally realised in 2000 and centred around the day to day activities of “The Sims”. The original game came with seven expansion packs which allowed the user to have more items and characters.

In 2004 Maxis and Electronic Arts released the next instalment of the game ‘The Sims 2’. The game had the same initial concept as the original game. Unlike the Sims, The Sims 2 was open ended. The user decided how and in what way the Sims lived their lives. It incorporated 3d graphics and all the storylines existed within the town in which the sims lived. 8 subsequent expansion packs and 9 stuff packs were released over the course of its tenure.

The Sims 3 again played along the same lines as the original game and was released in 2009. It was released on PC and consoles. Versions were created for smart phone in addition to the pc and console games. It sold over 1.4 million copies in its first week since 2009 it has sold over 10 million copies making it one of the most successful pc games of all time. The 3d Graphics were improved and everything was customizable with in reason. Challenges within the game occurred randomly and could affect relationships, careers and skills. Again, the came with 11 expansion packs and 9 stuff packs, a new Sims store where players and developers could create almost anything and allow other users to download that item, sim or lot for an additional fee. Several towns were also released and again could be purchased for an additional cost.

And last but not least The Sims 4 and was released in 2014. It was the first pc game to top all format charts in two years. This game was very similar to the Sims 3, but more powerful. In this game you can truly customize your sim. The pull and push tool allowed the user to edit facial features at a minute detail. The developers also allowed certain items to only be unlocked if your sim reached a certain career stage. However, changes were made in this version of the sims that led to a lot of controversy within The Sims community. They stripped back the availability of shops with the towns and the availability of the size of lots reduced dramatically. The Game continuously adds expansion pack, the new game packs (a smaller more affordable version of the expansion packs) and stuff packs. Each add on increases the uses experience of the game.

I have been part of the Sims community from the tender age of 10 (yes, I am aware I was probably too young for it at the time) when I first received The Sims 2 and Sims 2 Seasons as a Birthday Present and I have continued to buy the games and expansion packs. I have a nostalgic fondness for the older games but love the new and improved tools and graphics that the later games provided.

I have noticed that as I have aged, I prefer using the game in a different way. In the sims 2, I wanted nice stories. The sims 3 allowed me to create a greater depth of character and there for my sims stories became deeper and had slighter darker tone. The same can also be said of The Sims 4, although I enjoy creating much more than playing around with the sim’s lives.

[robyneh94]

The Space We Hold

When I clicked on the link to ‘The Space We Hold’ I honestly didn’t know what to expect. My initial reaction was ‘Oh goodie, something about space!’

This was decidedly not about space or anything remotely close to it. Instead it was an interactive documentary of the woman who were forced into sexual slavery during World War 2.

The stories of these woman were harrowing to say the least. However, it was produced and fed to us in a certain way that made it palatable and easy to turn on and off as the three-woman reviled their stories.

This type of interactive entertainment was not something I had ever come across or experienced before but is something that I would like to explore further in the future.

http://spacewehold.nfb.ca/