Projects 2 - Week 3 - Let the games begin

Jan 22, 2013
Its the big day when the prototype teams for Gate 1 would be finalised. There were finally 4 teams with Zeph and Alice recruiting a team at the last moment. I joined 'Cellblocks'.
It was a fun day. We decided to start with physically prototyping our game. We wanted to simulate our game by making 2 people play it. One as the hacker and another as the prisoner.
I volunteered to be the hacker and Vaibhav became the prisoner. We waited in the lab while our other team mates went around looking for an ideal place to set up a game level. Finally, I was taken to a room and Vaibhav was taken to the play area.
We did 3 takes on our game.
1) Hacker gets to view 2 cameras which are auto-spanning (2 iPads on facetime). Hacker communicates with prisoner using walkie talkies and has to guide the prisoner from one point to another without the security guard who is roaming around seeing him.
This did not go very well. The walkie talkies provided only 1-way communication which proved very inconvinient. Also, we found issues with camera placement.
2) In the 2nd trial, we used phones instead of walkie talkies. This went pretty well. I was able to guide vaibhav to the escape point without the guard seeing him.
3) The 3rd trial was to try this with jusst 1 camera acces to the hacker. But the hacker could control the camera movement. This also proved interesting with the hacker needing to decide whether to view the guard or the prisoner.
All in all, it was a good day. We were able to get a good idea of how the game might play out and what issues we need to cover. Like, the hacker needs more urgency and consequences to this actions, camera positioning, etc.

Jan 24, 2013
We all sat down and talked about how to go about making the prototype and what roles everyone's going to play. I took up the networking part of the game as it seems like a challenge and it also forms a core part of the game.

Projects 2 - Week 2 - Sucker Punched

Jan 15, 2013
This was the big day! I had made a prezi presentation for my game. I jumped in and presented my game 2nd. To get an idea of my game, check out the prezi link - http://prezi.com/7eiemnehe6i1/the-fourth-wall/

Also, I recorded my presentation. It did'nt go as bad as I expected. But I could have done much better..

Got a lot of interest in my game from my peers and positive feedback from my professors.
My peers too performed well. I thought our cohort was really creative and we definitely had a shot of winning the IGF.
Went home on a high looking forward to next Thursday when the Profs would announce which games would be getting made.

Jan 17, 2013
The professors all got together and gave us feedback on each and every game pitch. I was happy I got good feedback. The use of augmented reality was praised as an interesting idea and beneficial.
But then came the Sucker Punch. The professors declared that the cohort could choose among themselves which games they wanted to make. And for a game to be made, the team should consist of a minimum of 5 people...  It became clear then and there that my game didnt have a rat's chance at getting made.

Quickly the whole cohort devolved into a fish market and a popularity contest. It was sad to see truly innovative and highly praised game ideas like AB's Footsteps, Nikhil's Esher game and Vaibhav's Shadows game get steamrolled just like mine. Games like Fuss-Fuss which were clearly questioned by the Prof panel would get made because two of the best people in our cohort were backing it.

I felt angry and... helpless at this sudden decision by the Profs. In a flash of  a second, my game was crushed and I realised that I dont have the pull or the charm to entice people to make my game. So, maybe the game just plain sucked. Who Knows.. But I came to realise that the games which get made aren't necessarily the ones that have IGF potential. Its those games which are backed by the most influential people. This must be true in the industry too.

But over the next few days, I made my peace with the happenings. I decided to join the Cellblock team. It seems a game which might go places. The gameplay seems very exciting and ripe with possibilities,

Projects 2 - Week 1 - Possibilities Infinite

Jan 8, 2013

It was the start of my second semester and boy, I was so excited for this sem! We get to start with our thesis game. This is THE MAIN EVENT!
Classes start at 9am on Tuesdays and Thursdays this time around. Bummer.. This was just not 'Gamer Timing'..
The session went about basic overview with what we are going to do this semester. We were all told to pitch games by next Tuesday. We could do this as a team or on our own. The final thesis games would be picked from among these.
So, this is my big chance to get on center stage and I probably wont get a chance again for a looong time to make the game that I want to make. In this case, its 'The Fouth Wall' which is an augmented reality, location based Exergame.