Jason, Ray, Vincent, Agenda week of 11-26-14

Group 1 Meeting

December 1, 2014

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Virtual

Attendees: Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio

Objective: To present our current progress and our work plan.

I. Discuss the current progress of the project

  • Talk about the current progress of the game (10 min)
  • Talk about the current progress of the manual, while looking over it (5 min)
  • Discuss last week’s presentation and what we should change for the final presentation (10 min)

 

II. Future plans

  • Start making survey questions (15 min)
  • Discuss how to distribute survey (5 min)
  • Discuss how to begin the final write up (10 min)

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Progress Report #3

Group 1 – Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio
Professor Jill Belli
ENG 3773
11/25/2014
Progress Report #3

Over the course of the past week, our group has been working vigorously on the game, the manual, and a Power Point for the upcoming presentation. Jason finalized the third level of the game and showed it to the other group members through videos. The group worked together on making the Power Point presentation: Vincent came up with a layout, which the other group members helped add to and modify, before creating the Power Point itself.

Jason also added onto the manual by creating a “Gameplay” section, which is now six pages long. Afterwards the group revised the manual, fixing errors and making any needed clarifications. The group will bring four copies of the manual to the presentation, and distribute them to the other groups.

Our Power Point presentation was put together as a group, with each member focusing on specific areas. Vincent wrote about researching other game manuals, Ray provided pictures on architectural influences that we used and will discuss them during the presentation. Jason will talk more about the game itself and its purpose.

We thought about the types of survey questions we’ll ask, but we haven’t advanced far enough to actually make a sample survey yet. We will probably get there next week, and begin talking about potential survey questions before making decisions and putting the actual survey together. But as of right now, our progress is moving along as planned.

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Minutes Week of 11-19-14

November 24, 2014
Attendees: Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio
Location: Virtual
Meeting called to order at 5:00 PM by Vincent Cornelio

I. Progress report

  • Jason presents a video showcasing the finalized first level of our game, which will be used on the presentation. Positive feedback.
  • All three members reviewed the current state of the game manual. More information was added to the gameplay section by Jason addressing things mentioned by Ray and Vincent, but it’s not yet complete.

II. Discussion of the Power Point presentation

  • We discussed the outline for our Power Point presentation, and came to the conclusion of 11 slides.
  • Jason informed us of a new video that he made showcasing the first level of our game, and we agreed to include it in our Power Point.
  • Unanimous agreement that we should read the second slide and closing slides of our Power Point together as a group.
  • Ray provided pictures of the dungeons and torture chambers to be placed in the Power Point, because he does not have access to the Microsoft Power Point program. Other members with the access to Power Point will be editing and adding to the slides.
  • Unanimous agreement that Jason should cover slide three, Vincent will cover slide four, Ray will cover slides 5-6 (pictures of the dungeon and torture chambers) and we will do the rest together.
  • On the day of the presentation, the group agreed that Jason should bring a flash drive with the Power Point (which will also be on Google Drive and probably Dropbox), and each member should bring printed copies of the game manual for the rest of the class to see.

III. Future plans

  • Jason said he will have the last level of the game completed by next Monday. Unanimous agreement that he will show the level to all members once it’s completed.
  • The members will continue to work on the game manual, which we have shared over Dropbox.

Meeting adjourned at 6:00 PM
Minutes respectfully compiled and submitted by Ray Chen.

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Agenda Week of 11-19-2014

Group 1 Meeting
November 24, 2014
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Virtual

Attendees: Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio

Objective: To plan our upcoming presentation.

I. Discuss the current progress of the project

  • Talk about the current progress of the game (10 min)
  • Talk about the current progress of the manual, while looking over it (10 min)

II. Finalize the Power Point presentation

  • Collaboratively finish up the Power Point (20 min)
  • Make a plan on how to present it (10 min)

III. Future plans

  • Discuss how we will proceed with the project after the presentation (10 min)

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Progress Report #2

Group 1 – Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio
Professor Jill Belli
ENG 3773
11/18/2014
Progress Report #2

Our group remains ahead of schedule. Since we already had the first two levels of the game completed last week, our focus for the upcoming session was to gather more specific research, set an agenda and complete a meeting with minutes, and get started on the game manual. We have accomplished all of these tasks, in addition to finishing the majority of the third level of our game.

All three members looked for sources that talk about how video games can affect learning, or a related topic. Although all three members found sources on the topic, we decided to utilize two of them, which we’ll bring to our next class session. Ray also found more useful articles about 19th century (or older) European architectural design for prisons, dungeons, torture chambers, as well as the function of these places. Vincent will print one of his sources from last week, which is a game manual for “Penumbra”.

Jason continued working on the game, nearly finishing the third level. He recorded several videos showcasing the third level, and shared it with the rest of the group. He will bring a laptop with the game installed on it to the next class, so that the rest of the group can play it.

In order to prepare for the next class session, we began making the manual for our game. We ended up creating 19 pages so far, covering the system requirements, installation, introduction, configuration, advanced configuration, and controls of the game. We chose not to advance further without feedback from Professor Belli.

In our synchronous online meeting we decided that Vincent will bring a sample game manual to class. Ray will bring an article on related architectural design along with images of old dungeons, as well as an article on how gaming affects learning. Jason will bring our game manual in its current state, the game itself, and an article on how gaming can be intellectual.

Jason, Ray, Vincent – Minutes 11/18/14

November 17, 2014
Attendance: Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio
Location: Virtual

Meeting called to order at 2:30 PM by Jason Choy.

I. Discussion of ongoing research

  • Ray shows the group his newly found sources on specific architectural design, which relates to our game design.
  • One of the articles Ray gathered, although very detailed and in-depth, is a bit too much to print out due to its length. As a result, Ray has opted to print out several images from it, as well as a shorter article about 19th century European prison design.
  • Vincent volunteered to help do research on how video games can affect learning. Unanimous agreement to hold off on this until after the next class session.
  • Ray finds a new, helpful source for our project: an article called “How Virtual Games Can Help Struggling Students Learn”, which he will print out and bring to class.
  • Jason discovers a useful source called “Can Video Games be Intellectual?”, which he will print out and bring to class.

II. Progress report

  • Discussion of the current state of the game, minimal criticism.
  • Demonstration of a new sample video of the third level, positive feedback.
  • All three members discuss the current state of the game manual. Reception is positive. Unanimous agreement that we need the professor’s input to continue.

III. Preparation for the next class session

  • Unanimous decision that Vincent will bring to class the game manual for “Penumbra”, which is featured on the annotated bibliography.
  • Ray opts to bring a printed copy of “How Virtual Games Can Help Struggling Students Learn”, as well as an article about 19th century European prison design, and some images from other sources he has gathered. Unanimous agreement.
  • Unanimous decision that Jason should bring the work-in-progress game manual in its current state, as well as a printed copy of “Can Video Games be Intellectual?”, and a laptop featuring the game in its current state.

IV. Plans for the following week

  • Jason says he’ll have the third level of the game complete by the end of the week. Unanimous agreement that he should continue working on the game, showing everyone the progress.
  • All group members will contribute to the manual, which is shared online.
  • Unanimous agreement that we will bring in the aforementioned materials and receive feedback from the professor during next class session, in order to better determine how to proceed.

Meeting adjourned at 3:45 PM.

Minutes respectfully compiled and submitted by Jason Choy.

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Agenda 11/18/14

Group 1 Meeting
November 17, 2014
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Virtual

Attendees: Jason Choy, Ray Chen, Vincent Cornelio

Objective: To discuss the research we’ve been conducting, and to decide on what materials to bring to the next class session.

I. Discussion of ongoing research

  • Presentation of new sources we’ve gathered since our previous class session (10 min)
  • Determine what topics we should look into next (5 min)
  • Find and discuss good sources on more specific topics (30 min)

II. Progress report

  • Go over recent progress of the game, with pictures and video (15 min)
  • Evaluate the progress on our ongoing game manual (15 min)

III. Preparation for next class session

  •  Decide what research materials we want to bring to the next class session (10 min)

IV. Plans for the following week

  • Create and share plans for next week (10 min)

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Progress Report #1

Our progress for the collaborative final project is going by more quickly and more smoothly than expected. In our last class session, our topic got an unofficial green light so we have been continuing to improve upon our proposal which was also an assignment this week. We also completed our annotated bibliography for this week.

During last week’s class session, we all sat down and looked at the comments posted on our proposal (first draft). We took note of what was mentioned, and several days later we added the missing information to our newer draft. We did this by using an online chatroom and discussing the things we should add and improve in our proposal. Once we added more specific information to our proposal, Jason sent out a copy of the revised proposal to everyone, and we all proceeded to discuss it further before finally uploading it to Dropbox.

We also completed the annotated bibliography last week. First we decided on the topics each of us should research. Since Ray already found a useful source the previous week, we decided that he should use that and find another source on the same topic, which is architectural design that will influence our game. Jason volunteered to gather sources on the horror genre in the video game industry, since he is very familiar with that field. We all agreed that Vincent should look up game manuals for similar games, since we’d be making a game manual for our own game. Each of us gathered two sources, and wrote our annotations for them. We put them together and Jason reformatted it to fit MLA standards. After our annotated bibliography was put together as a single document, we read over it again and composed some minor revisions, before uploading it to Dropbox.
Throughout all of this, Jason has been working on the game itself. He actually started before we handed in our original proposal, since time is of the essence. He has finished making the first two levels of the game, and sometime this week (most likely Wednesday) he will let the other group members playtest the game.

So between our last class session and this week’s, we’ve had three meetings, which were done through online chatrooms (essentially synchronous communication). We plan to have a face to face meeting this week as well, so that everyone could see how the game is progressing (although Jason has uploaded videos of it). This sums up what we’ve done so far, and we’re now waiting for the next class session to see what we’ll do next.

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Annotated Bibliography

“Top 10 Best Horror Games of All Time.” GND-Tech. N.p., 19 Oct. 2014. Web. 08 Nov. 2014. <http://www.gnd-tech.com/content/997-Top-10-Best-Horror-Games-of-All-Time>.

“Top 10 Best Horror Games of All Time” is an article published on GND-Tech.com. It’s a comprehensive list of 10 critically acclaimed horror games, providing detailed explanations for each showing why it deserves such praise. The website is a PC gaming related website, so the list is representative of PC gamers, which is currently the biggest platform for the horror genre.

We chose this source because our project involves making a short horror game, and we want to draw inspiration from the most popular and successful horror games. Our audience would be PC gamers, and GND-Tech is a PC gaming website. Unlike other, similar lists, this one provides a detailed analysis of the games (or links to other articles from the same site that provide a more detailed analysis). We looked at some of the games listed there for inspiration on our own game design. In fact, we’ve played every single one of those games giving us enough experience, and a more clear idea of what PC gamers enjoy. Our main inspiration, the game that is actually the foundation for our own, is ranked number one on that list. By reading that article we discovered that when it comes to horror games, making the player feel helpless and at times trapped are very useful techniques, and PC gamers enjoy interactive environments.

 

“Top 10 Scariest Moments in Video Game History.” GND-Tech. N.p., 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2014. <http://www.gnd-tech.com/content/972-Top-10-Scariest-Moments-in-Video-Game-History>.

“Top 10 Scariest Moments in Video Game History” is an article published on GND-Tech.com, a PC gaming and computer technology website. The article contains a comprehensive breakdown of what they consider the top 10 scariest moments in video game history are, including a detailed analysis of each entry complete with references to other games and also film, in order to give the reader a more clear idea on successful terror-inducing techniques. The article also has a video for each and every entry, to show exactly what’s so frightening.

This source proves valuable to us because we’re making a horror game, and we want to scare the player. This article tells us and shows us what is very effective in scaring gamers. The website’s audience is the PC gaming world, which is our audience as well, so it’s relevant to our project. Some of us have played every game they listed, so we have a clear idea of what is effective and what isn’t effective at delivering terror and shock to gamers. Therefore, we know what to look for and we know what to avoid. The article suggests that dynamic, unpredictable, and randomized events tend to be extremely scary to most people, so we’ll look to include some of that. It also sheds light on other kinds of techniques used: some of the games listed actually don’t put the player in extreme danger very often, yet these games are found to be some of the most terrorizing. There isn’t just one “right way”, and creativity is a must.

 

“Amnesia Manual Download – Amnesia: The Dark Descent Game.” Indie DB. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

One of our goals as a group is to do research on different types of manuals that are related to our project, which is building a horror-themed video game. One of the manuals that we’ve focused on is the one belonging to the critically acclaimed horror game “Amnesia: The Dark Descent”. The user’s manual for Amnesia provides an instruction guide for the user showing how the game should be played. In addition, it provides configuration guidelines for the graphics, sound, profile setting, and most importantly the basic key interactions for a user to refer to. The instruction manual for Amnesia also gives the user an overview on what the game will mostly be about and what the themes of the game will be like. Overall, the instruction manual for the game Amnesia: The Dark Descent provides a well detailed guide for the users who will be playing the game. Our group believes that by looking through clear and well detailed user’s manuals like the one for Amnesia: The Dark Descent, we’ll get a more clear idea on what should be put into a user’s manual for our own game.

 

“Penumbra Manual Download – Penumbra:” Web. 07 Nov. 2014.

For this source, our group decided to look at the user’s manual for the game “Penumbra”, an episodic PC exclusive horror game made by the same people who made “Amnesia: The Dark Descent”. The user’s manual for Penumbra consists of sufficient information on the requirements that a user needs to be able to play the game. The manual is straightforward and very clear to the users; it informs the users what computer specifications he/she should have so that there won’t be any complications or slowdowns when playing the game. The user’s manual then continues to talk about the installation process of the game and details the steps needed to be followed in order for the installation to succeed. Although the manual for Penumbra didn’t include so much on what the game is about, it does a great job in helping the user install the game and assisting on how the game is played. We found the instruction manual for Penumbra useful as a group because it gives us helpful information and ideas on how we should create an user’s manual for a horror game, much like our previous source. Combining the two manuals gives us a more clear picture on what we should include and exclude.

 

Molloy, Mark. “Man Discovers Secret ‘dungeon’ under New Apartment.” Metro Great Deal on the Rent Man Discovers Secret Dungeon after Moving into New apartment. oct, 10th 2013. Web.

In this article by Mark Molloy, he talks about how one day after moving into a new studio apartment, a man discovered a mysterious hatch in the floor leading into an underground dungeon. According to Molloy, instead of calling the police to inform them of his discovery, the new tenant called a friend over to help him investigate the creepy cellar. In this article the author provides a series of photographs of what the interior looks like, all of which taken by the tenant. The tenant reckons that it could be an old English monastery that dates back to the 19th century, but at some point in time it was converted into thirty apartments. The tenant states that it’s “a little scary living above it alone”, although he also says that the space would be great for a “home cinema or dungeon party.” Some of these photos show a stone bed and narrow corridors. Some people speculate that one of the photos may be showing an old furnace room.

The reason we chose this source is because it helps provide us with insight on what a real life 19th century European dungeon may look like. Our project consists of creating a horror game set in the 19th century, and our level design includes a dungeon. The pictures in this article help us design the corridors of our dungeon, and the positions of rooms we have in the dungeon.

 

“Separation – Pentonville – Victorian Crime and Punishment from E2BN.” N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2014.

This article talks about the most feared prison in 19th century London. The prison is called “Pentonville.” It was built in North London in 1842. Pentonville was built to host prisoners waiting for transportation. According to the author, the design of this prison was intended to keep prisoners isolated from each other. It consists of a central hall, with five radiating wings, in which all the wings were visible to the staff stationed in the center. The author states that “guards could not see into individual cells from their central position. The design was was more about prisoner isolation than prisoner surveillance.” This prison can hold up to 520 prisoners each with their own cell. These cells are built to prevent transmission of sounds. The author provides us with detailed information on the design of the prison. The prison cells are about 13 feet long, by 7 feet broad, and 9 feet high, and the partitions between cells were 18 inches thick. In addition, the lights were only admitted by a window filled with strong glass and crossed with iron bars. The author went on to talk about the bedding of this prison, which consists of only mattresses with a blanket, and hammocks.

Like source one, we chose this source because the description provided by the author about this 19th century European prison gives us a mental picture of what prisons during this time look like. Since the setting for our game is 19th century Europe, we thought it was a good example which we could use to help design our interior levels.

Jason, Ray, Vincent, Revised Proposal

For our collaborative final project, we have decided to create a video game along with a user’s manual. The manual would be like other game manuals, which would describe how to set up the game, and how to play it.

The video game itself will be a first person horror game, set in the mid 19th century. It will feature both survival horror and psychological horror elements. We came up with this idea around Halloween time, even though by the time we’re finished it will be nearly Christmas. We’ve come up with a simple premise: the protagonist wakes up in a jail cell, with no recollection of how he got there, and the player will have to escape the dungeon using wits and cleverness, and not get killed in the process. The game will involve stealth, light puzzle solving, encounters with dangerous creatures with no combat system, as well as exploration. As of now we don’t have a name for the game yet. The game will run on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Mac OS X, and Linux.
The game will be built upon HPL2 engine, using the developer tools offered by Frictional Games, creators of the engine and several horror games including “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” which is made on the same engine. This means our project will utilize models and mechanics from Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Time constraints are another reason for this decision. We predict the game will be around two hours long, again with time constraints being an attributing factor.

This project is relevant to the course because it involves plenty of technical writing. We’re going to be creating something, and then we will create instructions that show how to use it. Similar to the “Instructions and Usability Testing” assignment, but much more in-depth. Our project will also replicate what you get in the real world when purchasing a horror game – you get a game, and you get an instruction manual.

The purpose is simple: the world thrives on media. From video games to television and film, there is always a place for media entertainment. Horror is an established (although niche) video game genre, so the audience would be gamers… especially those who like horror games. Our project would provide entertainment to our audience, challenge their problem solving skills by introducing the player to challenging scenarios, and to a lesser extent it may challenge their analytical reading skills through in-game writing that builds on several themes such as desperation, selfishness, and society’s unwillingness to act in serious situations, complete with references to other popular horror movies and games. In addition, creating instructions for something as large as a game will build up our technical writing skills further.

The first step of our work plan is to make the game. We could do research on horror game design, to gather other ideas. This would include looking up things related to the setting we chose, to make a more authentic game. Once we’ve created and tested the game, we would move on to making a user’s manual for it. We’d get others to test the game with our manual as well, to see if they can get it running by following our instructions.

We’d be doing different types of research for this project, in addition to what was said above. We are considering doing research on the horror game industry, looking at its origins, looking at the most successful horror games as well as the least successful horror games. Our research might also include looking at other game manuals, so we can get a better idea on what to include in ours.

Jason will be doing the game development, since that’s a field he has years of experience in. The group will collaborate on the game design too. All three of us will gather research on the things mentioned, and we’ll all collaborate on the writing together. Jason will be proofreading and making sure all of the writing fits together, so that it doesn’t look like the writings of three people stitched together. The project-specific deliverables would be the manual to go with the game, and of course the game itself.

Aside from class meetings, we will meet after class in the library or somewhere else on school grounds, since it fits into our schedules. We will also be using an online chatroom through a program called Steam, so that’s two synchronous communication methods outside of class and it should be sufficient for completing the project. We’ll be sharing files through Dropbox or Google Drive.

By working on this project, we’ll greatly improve our collaboration skills since this project is large scale, it spans a long time, and it is worth half our grade. It will also bolster our technical writing skills, since we’d be writing instructions for such a large project that we made.