1. It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school. What did you do over the break with your senior project?
Part of the pre-production of any video game is the prototyping, which come as both physical drafts and rough computer models. So, even though I won't have to actually develop the game until my second independent component, my first IC still requires me to familiarize with the software. I haven't logged these hours yet, but so far, I've have begun and playtested on the some files on the RPGMaker software. In particular, I've learned how to implement the dialogue of the characters (which is going to be really fun since I really hope to include cameos of students/teachers in the final product). I've also learned how to import portraits. I've yet to actually log these hours.
I have done some minor documenting of the game's premise and puzzles, as well some physical drafts sketched on graph paper on one of the maps that this game will be taking place, which is the I-Poly Quad. But they're very, very primitive and have no place to stand before the eyes of the world yet.
2. What was the most important thing you learned from what you did, and why? What was the source of what you learned?
Specifically for learning how to use the software, I have been watching tutorials on Youtube by the channel known as Obrusine1 (who has been renamed as Novem). I've gotten the hang of one of the most fundamental "events" - a type of action in the RPGMaker - which is how to give dialogue to the characters. I can either do static dialogue for the non-player characters (NPCs), where the lines will be repeated every time you as the player character speak to them. Or, I can make the dialogue have options of choices and have conversations branch out differently (though nevertheless also be repeated).
While doing this I also personally learned also how to import character graphics (AKA the portrait that appears alongside the dialogue to signify who the speaker is). One of the available character sprites to use is Santa Claus, which I thought was funny, but there wasn't an image of his face in the current RPG Maker database to go along the dialogue. As a result, I decided to find one and add it myself. Each character face graphic is exactly 96x96 pixels; any larger would cut the face off.
(above Santa Claus's dialogue are the two optional routes the player could take with the conversation, with one being "...fine." and the other being "Please. Your family misses you. Go home." Santa clearly needs an intervention with his life, considering he seems to be trapped on an island as of now.)
The map, as you can see in the above image, is very basic; it's basically an island in the middle of the sea, but this is all for playtesting. The actual game will definitely not be taking place here.
3. Your third interview will be a 10 question interview related to possible answers for your EQ. Who do you plan to talk to and why?
Out of the three mentors Clerisse and I currently have, I have actually only interviewed one of them. Sean Bouchard and Elizabeth Swensen are both viable candidates for interviews for me, and either way would be an excellent option. Not only are they my mentors, but both also specialize in educational games/game-based learning and were actually part of the inspiration to the EQ, which asks how we can maximize a player's learning experience in the game without making it boring.
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