Project Milestones

1. Storyboarding and conceptualisation.

The first milestone was the realisation that our initial breakdown of the text and the creation of the storyboards were inaccurate.
We had created a group diagram that did not represent the ‘event’s structure’ so we were not creating a product that had a definitive point to it.
The focus was on the characters rather than the text as a whole, this meant that the storyboard and conceptualisation started to veer away from the logic of the text being to educate the reader of the legend of the spectre.
I learnt that it is essential to refer to the text as a whole to break down the ‘event’s structure’, also to refer back to the brief (and the text) at all times to make sure our product fits the brief and has a solid purpose.

2. Production Planning and Scheduling.

As project manager it was my job to create a time plan so we could complete the project in the given time.
I created a timetable for production, testing and composing the presentation. This was emailed to all the team members. The roles did change slightly due to illness and a necessity to get thing in action, however all aspects of the design process where always covered by one member of the team.
I learnt that where possible assigning different jobs for everyone to do individually could cut production time dramatically. We did this so we finished our product on time.

3. Asset Management Strategies.

I made sure all our work and files were saved on the server and asked the team to do so, which they did.
Files were also saved on USB sticks and as project manager I simply saved all important files on my USB stick then kept them also on my laptop.
All files were saved under particular names e.g. wedding.mov and if a new version was created it was numbered so we knew which version was the latest one. E.g wedding_2.mov
This meant no files were lost.

4. Compression Techniques.

Our next milestone was the quality of the video footage. Because it was recorded with low quality to being with there was not much we could do to get better quality movie clips. All we could do was ensure that the quality didn’t get any worse. We compressed the video clips in imovie, and played around with different codec and sizes.
H.264, QuickTime mov, 640x480 gave the best results, leaving minimal macroblocks and artefacts on screen whilst having low data rates.
The sound did not compress well, we did not use adequate recording material, so we started off with low quality sound which only got worse with compression.

5. Scripting Efficiency.

Scripting was checked throughout the process of composing the product rather than just at the end.
The game was check by members of the team as well as the flash coder in order to check it worked and had the up to date videos in place.
This could be why we didn’t have any major setbacks with the flash coding.

6. Technical Prototyping and Testing.

Another milestone was when we tested our product out on users.

Paper Prototype Test:
We didn’t test it out before hand, so we were missing a set of buttons which we didn’t realise until we did the 1st test. We managed to rectify this before doing the other tests.

Online Prototype Test:
We tested the product online as it is intended to be used, it was tested out using both Mac’s and PC’s and in different types of browsers.
However we failed to create a adequate questionnaire to get in-depth feedback.
Also our product failed in its aim to educate the users about the spectre. But it did work in all browser types and both Mac and PC.

7. Debugging and modification.

The debugging process was done throughout not just at the end. All members of the team were constantly checking the final product as it was being created (as it was updated on the server regularly) and getting back to our flash coder (Dan) on any problems with links, videos etc.. when we found them.

8. Software Interrelationship.

We know we were going to compose the final product in flash cs3, so we knew we had to use video codec’s that were compatible with this version of flash.
Flash supports QuickTime and AVI so we decided to compress to one of these file formats.
Also H.264 is supported in this version of flash, and as it is the best video codec around at the moment, so we knew we would end up using it.
QuickTime supported H.264 codec and imovie could compress to QuickTime, so this was the software we used.
They are all manufactured by adobe making them more likely to be compatible.

9. Group Production Techniques.

We made sure to keep each other informed of what we were doing at all times, via emails, team meetings or our group blog.
As project manager I tried to constantly keep up to date with where everyone was at and make sure they were ok with what they were doing.
I kept them informed of any setbacks, completions or tasks that had to be done and who was or would do them; this included the member of our team who was unwell at the time.
This constant connection meant that any major setbacks could be dealt with if possible and that everyone was aware of where we were at.
This meant we work as a team even though most of the time we were doing individual work towards the final piece. It also helped to spread the workload out as we were a small group and had just as much to do.

Usability Test - Final Web game

Today we did the usability tests of our final game.

We tested the product online as it is intended to be used, it was tested out using both Mac’s and PC’s and in different types of browsers and work well on all of them.

We managed to test it out on 4 people, 1 male and 3 female.

My person experience of testing went well, I explained that the product was a prototype which we created for an interactive narrative game and that today we were just testing to see if our narrative structure was easy to follow.

My tester managed to go through the game effortlessly and gave very useful feedback to me.

She told me that the text on the first screen was to difficult to read (and another tester simply skipped it due to the fact that there is a lot of text.)

She told me that the audio quality was not so great and she found it hard to hear everything being said.

She commented that she did not realise she was the police officer straight away, it took her awhile to figure this out.

She followed most of the story, however due to our brief questionnaire we don't know if she learnt anything about the spectre.

The results of the other tests were as follows:

• Everyone managed to use the navigation system easily.
• One tester did not follow the story at all and was not willing to go through the videos
• 2 testers enjoyed the visual style (the use of puppets)
• However 1 tester though the puppets movements made it hard to follow the story
• the audio quality was commented on by another tester

Usability Tutorial with Mazy

Today we had our usability tutorial with Mazy.
We hope to test the final product on Friday.

Points Mazy gave us:

• Don't ask leading questions.
• Don't ask closed questions.
• Get the use to tell us what they thought the story was about to see how well they understood it.

Today was Very Productive!

My team members are super!!,
Not only are we running on time!, but we have compressed all our movies (thanks Jen's) and our website is already under construction (thanks Dan) and our presentation has already under construction (thanks Gail!)

Tomorrow we have a tutorial with Mazy, we should be able to test out our Interactive Game by Friday.

Compression

Jenny, Gail and I, experimented with different compression formates today and different sizes for our final movies.

We played around in imovie, changing different sizes and quality, until we found a good balance between size (as it had to be quick to download) and picture quality.

The best video size for the website is 640x480 (large) or 320x240 (small).
We will use 640x240.

Quicktime, H.264 gave much better results then avi and was the smallest file size.
So this will be used to compress our movies.

It is also compatable with flash CS3, as we found out today by testing it out.

Filming and Audio

Today was very productive, so far we have our audio and footage ready for editing.

We had to retake some scenes, due to the action being cropped and our hands and other objects that shouldn't be visible, being present.

We dont have time to get adequate recording material so we used Gails Apple ipod recorder, which is ok quality, the voices are audiable.

We will start Editing the video and audio tomorrow and start constructing the website that it will be hosted on.

Filming Tomorrow!!

Plan for Filming tomorrow:

First we will do a test shoot, to see if sound and our green screen idea works.

If this goes well:

• We will shoot all the solo characters 'talking'

Then shoot the:

• Graveyard scenes
• Church / Wedding scenes

Dan is lead for filming
Jenny (if she's well enough), Gail and I (Funmi) will be puppeteers/voices!!!

Usability Test - Paper Prototype

We conducted the usability test today, using out paper prototype.
We managed to test it out on 3 people.

Positives:

• The testers found the actual usability of the site very straight forward, they understood how to navigate trough the story.

• They gained a little background knowledge into the legend of the spectre.

• They liked the problem solving aspect of the game, one tester commented that they enjoyed the thinking and problem solving at every stage.

Negatives:

• There was a little wait before 2 testers realised that they could use their finger to click on characters they would like to interview more.

• A tester didn't like the stereotypical names we have given the characters, especially PC Bob

Changes:

• For the next usability test, we defiantly need a better questionnaire, which pushes people to give more in depth answer, rather then yes or no.

• Design - we would make sure buttons and interactive characters are clearly highlighted as clickable.

• Design - We need to incorporate an introduction screen that would replace me giving a verbal intro. It should introduce the game, the legend and your role within the game.

We've made our puppets - still on schedule!!!

In preparation for Mondays filming we have created the puppets we will use as the characters in our interactive narrative game.

So now we just have testing to do by the end of today so that we keep to our schedule!!

Structure of our Interactive Game

This the new and final story board of how our interactive game will work.

My Idea for Jazzing up our game.

The idea I came up with was to make the solving of your colleagues death as important as the story of the Spectre of Erigle Truagh.

We keep the background history about the legend of Erigle Truagh and the player is still a Police Constable:

You are investigating the death of your colleague, who was killed at Erigle Truagh.

You attend his funeral to find out what happened, You need his Notebook to see what he had uncovered, but it's not in his belongings, this is strange, every PC has a notebook...

So your goal in chapter 1 is to find your colleagues notebook, however the people in the village are not so helpful, they keep going on about the Spectre and other crazy events.

Mazy's Tutorial

Today we had a tutorial with Mazy. RE: PAPER PROTOTYPE!!!

We showed Mazy our paper prototype for our revisited narrative, which now runs in the form of an online game.

- Mazy gave us some useful ideas for our paper prototype tests.

She advised that it would be good for one of us to take on the role of a narrator.
Also some basic things we should ask the testers, like how they felt about the game, if they were interested in gaming and their age range.

She also pointed out that our game needs a stronger and more prominent goal, which would invoke the user to keep on playing.

Tonight we will go home and individually come up with ideas to make the goal of our game more interesting.

Our new diagram the 'event's structure'

Our Scheduling for next week

I have created a production plan for the coming week:

18 - Friday - Usability testing with paper prototype (all), Start characters/set creation (gail/funmi).

19 - Saturday - Website (Dan), Stage (Gail/Funmi)

21 - Monday - Shooting. (all)

22 - Tuesday - Sound recording (Jenny?, Dan) and Video Editing (Dan/Gail),

23 - Wednesday - Compressing the final footage (Dan),

24 - Thursday - Finish the final product, Usability Testing (Tutorial with Mazy) (all)

Critique with Sandra

Our critique with Sandra brought up some problems in our current structure and our interpretation of the whole idea of creating the interaction.

We had jumped a couple of steps, (without really knowing it), and because of this we have conflicts in the plot and idea behind how our interactive narrative would work.
It is currently not very interactive and is more like 3 linear story's that run one after the other.
There is also no motive to push the user to use it.

We sat down as a group and discussed this.
We went back many steps and broke down the story again and then put it into a structured diagram of events.

We have now developed a totally new approach to the narrative which is more interactive and also has a motive for the user to go through the story and figure out the legend.

Creation of Narrative Structure

The structure of how our narrative would run was created.
It revolves around the story of the two dead victims of the spectre and the spectre's story, all told in the past tense.

Our storyboards:

Deconstruction of the text

I deconstructed the text into text order and story order to start with.
This made it clearer to process what was happening within the text.