ETEC 544 - The Broke Squad - Project Part 1

ETEC 544: Final Assignment Part 1- Fullerton’s Chapter 6 Exercise

Creators: Rylan Klassen, Agnes Garrioch, Leon Lam, James Halliday, and Leighton Chiverton

Index

1. Exercise 6.4

2. Exercise 6.1

3. Exercise 6.2

4. Exercise 6.5

5. Exercise 6.6

6. Exercise 6.7

7. Exercise 6.9

Exercise 6.4: Blue-Sky Brainstorm

Politician

4. How does the character react?Non-chalantly, fake surprise, controlled and uncontrolled anger. 5. Does the character have free will? Yes and no, breaks the fourth wall - constantly questions players' decisions (like Obama’s anger translator) 6. Next, brainstorm features for your imaginary controller. What will it look like? What could each button do? Looks like the X-Box 360 controller. Includes a microphone. Has a ‘Nuke the world’ button (but you can only hit it if you’re the president or the FBI arrests you).

1. What does the character do?Go to meetings and fundraisers, kiss babies, make speeches, put up signs, enter debates with rivals, make public statements and observe reactions, avoid controversy (but also aim for controversy), pass legislation 2. What makes the character interesting? This character may come from poverty and is having an affair. Publicly a vegan. Sociopath. They are a Pisces. Astrological signs change your actions and determinants. 3. What aspect of the character would it be engaging in controlling? Their speech and actions, what they or eat, how much they lie, how much they use their power for personal gain, what policies they pursue and how that affects their ratings, extra-curricular (golf) as mini-games

Reflection

Exercise 6.4 was the first exercise our group completed for this assignment, and it allowed us to connect as a team. During this exercise, we all followed the "yes and...," common improv rule Fullerton (2014, p. 72) encourages, which caused all to laugh and build comfort with each other. We were able to be at ease knowing that our ideas would be accepted fully, without judgement. Fullerton (2014) discusses the importance of having a creative workplace and cutting loose to allow for more robust team dynamics to be formed. The groundwork from completing this exercise carried over to the following exercises and allowed us to create connections.

Exercise 6.1: Below the Surface

Article: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review

Objectives:The objective of the article was to let readers know how good or bad the new Ant-Man and The Wasp movie was. The website IGN covers the topics of movies, tv series, video games, and more, so a review on a comic book movie is in its wheel house. Rules: The rules of writing a review are to discuss the good and bad aspects of the item being reviewed and then provide a score out of 10 at its conclusion. Procedures:The procedure of the review starts with a brief overview of what happens in the movie without spoiling its main plot points. It will then discuss the characters and performances (good and bad) and mention who they felt “stole the show” or felt sidelined in the movie. The review will then go over what they loved or hated about the movie, and where they felt it could have improved on before concluded it. Resources: The resource the writer has at their disposal is getting to see the movie ahead of its premiere. This is done by the film studios to hopefully get a good to great review that will entice readers to go see it in theaters. Conflict: The conflict from the article is the battle of words the writer has with either convincing or not convincing the reader to see the movie. At times, it felt like the writer urged me to go see the movie based on a sole performance or how it sets up future Avengers movies, while at other times the writer seemed to suggest that this movie’s sole purpose was to set up said movies.

Harry, P. (2023). Spare. Bantam Books.

Objectives- There is an expectation from the reader that this book will include influential moments in Prince Harry’s life. Even more compelling to the reader is, if there happens to be untold stories that noone has heard of or expects. Rules- This book is a memoir, essentially a telling of one’s perspective in life. Memoirs become more intriguing when only one side of the story has been told, and the author of the memoir intends to reveal their side. It should be told from the perspective of the author, Prince Harry. Procedures- One can write about their own life experience, but need to be cautious on the stories they tell and ensure they are entirely truthful, and avoid lawsuits (defamation, etc.). Resources- Authors can review other memoirs of people over time, i.e. how others have framed their lives through books, to decide how they want to write their narrative. Memoirs can be published in print, digitally, or through audio. Conflict- In this memoir, the author portrays the conflict of the Monarchy and the British Press, the racism of the British Press, the conflict between himself and his brother, the traumatic death of his mother and the trickling impact that has had in other areas of his life, and finally the attempt to live a life where he is not a dutiful-to-the-public Prince, but instead one that has privacy. Skills to be learned- Unfortunately, reviews of this book are critical of the victimhood Prince Harry portrays. Although he is trying to be relatable, and share his own narrative of events, the undertones that he had a difficult life, are hard for some readers to connect to, as the luxuries he experiences as a prince were so unique to everyday experiences of the general public.

Riordan, R. (2006). Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Hyperion.

Objectives: The objective of novel writing is to sell the book, which requires it to be entertaining. Therefore the objective of reading the novel is to be entertained. From a story perspective the objective is to return the stolen lightning bolt to Zeus and save Percy’s mother. Rules: As a Novel, the book needs to follow the general elements of a story. This means the inclusion of characters, setting, conflict, an inciting incident, rising action, climax, denouement, and conclusion. The rules of reading are that you start at the beginning and read to the end. Generally, you ‘should’ also be comprehending what you are reading. Procedures: Read from left to right. Decode the letters onto the page to induce the visualization of the story. Resources: The resources include the physical book itself, the time it takes to read, and, in greater sense, the ability to read. Conflict: In the story, the conflict is largely external where Percy needs to overcome a series of monsters and deliver the lightning bolt as orchestrated by the antagonist. Skills to be learned: As it says in procedures, the skills of reading (decoding words) needs to be learned in order to read the book, although skills in reading comprehension (connecting, questioning, visualizing, inference, and transforming) would also help. Another useful skill would be reading stamina. In addition, a general understanding of Greek mythology would grant context that would enhance understanding.

Article: McLaren rookie Piastri explains why he’s confident he won’t suffer from the same struggles as Ricciardo

Objectives - The primary objectives of this article are to first introduce new McLaren driver Oscar Piastri for the 2023 F1 season. Rules - The rules of this article were to highlight the skills and capabilities of Piastri while being respectful of outgoing driver, Daniel Ricciardo. Procedures - The article started by discussing what credentials and past victories Piastri has in his career (F3 and F2 champion). Then the article drew comparisons between Piastri and the current other driver for McLaren, Lando Norris. Resources - The resources used to create this article were from interviews with Piastri as well as his prior race wins and history in racing. Conflict - The main conflict highlighted was the struggles that previous McLaren driver Ricciardo was experiencing while driving for McLaren resulting in his removal from the team. There is also expected conflict between Norris and Piastri because they will both be vying for the number one position at McLaren. McLaren is also expected to be a much stronger contender this year resulting in highest stakes and expectations for the team and drivers. Skills to be learned - The primary skill to be learned is an understanding of what the situation at McLaren will be with a new driver going into the 2023 F1 season.

The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

Objectives - the goal of "The Lean Startup" is to help entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses that can quickly adapt to changes in the market, and create products that people actually want and need. Rules and Procedures

• Validated Learning: Startups should prioritize learning from customers as quickly as possible to refine their product hypotheses.

• Build-Measure-Learn Feedback Loop: The core of the Lean Startup methodology involves building, measuring, and learning from customer feedback to continually improve the product
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Entrepreneurs should start with the simplest version of their product that allows them to test hypotheses and gather customer feedback.

• Continuous Deployment: Startups should deploy new product features and updates as soon as they are ready to respond to customer feedback in real-time
• Innovation Accounting: Entrepreneurs should use customer-focused metrics such as acquisition, retention, and revenue to measure progress and make informed business decisions.

Conflicts

• Traditional Planning vs. Lean Startup Methodology
• Perfect Product vs. Product for Learning
• Vanity Metrics vs. Actionable Metrics

Skills

• Customer Discovery: Identifying and validating customer needs through customer discovery interviews and other methods.

• Rapid Prototyping: Creating a minimum viable product (MVP) quickly and using it to gather feedback from customers.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Using data to make informed decisions about products, including using actionable metrics and conducting A/B testing.
• Continuous Improvement: Iterating on products based on customer feedback and continually improving the product to meet customer needs.
• Innovation Accounting: Measuring progress and making informed decisions using customer-focused metrics such as acquisition, retention, and revenue.
• Agile Development: Being agile in the development process, including using continuous deployment and small, cross-functional teams

Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. Crown Business.

Below the Surface - An Analysis

Fullerton states that Step 1 to game delepment is to "start with an understanding of how games work. Learn about rules, procedures, objectives, etc. What is a game? What makes a game compelling to play" (2014, p. XXXII)?

By going through the activity of applying the formal elements of games to other activities, we developed our ability to determine the differences between games and other activities.

Foremost among the observations is the realization the reading as an activity does not have a variable outcome, a concept integral to games. Every person reads an article or book from beginning to end in the same order (if you follow the generally agreed upon procedure). By taking a close look at the other activities we voluntarily spend time on in our lives, we can determine which elements keep them entertaining, which elements can crossover to game, and which elements need to change. Finally, we noticed that the conflict in other activites does not usually have a sense of agency in the reader/user. Opposingly, in games the player needs to have a sense of agency in the conflict in order for the game to remain compelling.

Exercise 6.2: Game Deconstruction

Mario Kart 8 - Formal Elements

Players: There can be up to 4 on one system, and up to 12 online. Although, it is often played individually and the game system emulates the other players. Multilateral competition. Objectives: win the race and earn as many points in a tournament, or battle opponents to eliminate their balloons while maintaining your own. Procedures: A makes you go forward, B makes you go backwards, use the left control stick to steer, R to hop and drift, L to use an item. Rules: stay on the track (restricts action), must complete going in the forward direction, and be the first to cross the finish line to win. Resources: Karts, wheels, kites, coins, battle items Conflict: Opponent,the majority of the conflict comes from the other players as you face off against each other. Obstacles are littered throughout the courses, they may or may not be moving or cliff edges, they are also thrown at you by your opponents. Dilemmas usually involve timing of when to use particular items or attempt risky shortcuts. Boundary: Race boundaries in the game, the game takes place on the game system/over the internet. Outcomes: include a victor and placement from 1-12.

Mario Kart 8 - Dramatic elements

Drama is introduced in the game by players as they battle each other for first position in the race. Tension and suspense: The race is filled with close finishes, sudden turns, and power-ups that can cause players to change their position in an instant, creating tension and suspense. Competition: The game is designed as a competition between players, with the goal of being the first to cross the finish line. This competition creates a sense of urgency and drives players to try their best. Surprise: The game includes random power-ups and obstacles that can change the outcome of a race in an instant, creating a sense of surprise and unpredictability. Variety: The game includes a range of different tracks, characters, game modes, and karts providing players with a diverse and constantly changing experience. Skill: The game requires players to use their skills, such as speed, acceleration, and drifting, to navigate the tracks and compete against other players.

Mario Kart 8 - Dynamic Elements

Dynamic: Varying tracks, carts, powerups, and characters available for players to select. Difficulty: The game adjusts the difficulty level based on player performance, making it more challenging for skilled players and easier for less skilled players.The player may also choose the difficulty (50 cc, 100 cc, 150 cc, Mirror, and 200 cc) at the beginning of a given race/tournament. Power-Ups: The game's power-ups can be used to gain an advantage or overcome obstacles, and the timing and frequency of their appearance is dynamic and random, creating unpredictable gameplay. Race Progress: The position and speed of players is constantly changing, creating a dynamic and evolving race. The lead can change multiple times throughout a race, keeping players engaged and on their toes. Game Modes: The game includes a variety of game modes, such as Grand Prix, Time Trial, and Battle, each with its own unique set of rules and objectives. Track Design: The tracks in Mario Kart are designed to be dynamic and changing, with obstacles, shortcuts, and power-ups that can alter the outcome of a race.

Mario Kart 8 - Analysis of a Game

Overall, by looking at the part by part breakdown of a game we have all played, as a group we were able to remind ourselves of all the elements that need to be considered when conceptualizing and designing a game. As Fullerton (2014) states, formal elements are the "...elements that form the sturctures of a game. Without them, games cease to be games" (p. 57). By analyzing the formal elements of Mario Kart 8, we were able to have a fresh perspective on the vareity of formal aspects required when discussing the elements that would make up the structure of our game. Part of what makes a games so good at holding attention is the sense of drama that unfolds while you play. "The role of a game designer is, first and foremost, to be an advocate for the player" (Fullerton, 2014, p. 3). Our job during this time in game development is to make sure that the basis of our game is enaging and entertaining. Reminding ourselves of the dramatic elements of a famous game, a game we all enjoy, contributed to the discussion of our game design. This allowed us to critically elimnate ideas that, while perhaps educationally viable, would not make for a fun game. Finally, discussing the dynamic elements allowed our group to refocus choice and unpredicatbility as a central idea of great gaming. It can become to easy when thinking of gaming in education to instead create a version of gamification, where the outcome become too important. A sense of ownership occurs when a game is dynamic, and it was integral to our discussion that there was a sense of unpredictability in the game, along with the ability to choose, in order to prevent the game from becoming monotonous. As Fullerton (2014) discusses, by anayzing a game together, our ability to discuss the game we are developing together improved (p. 170).

Exercise 6.5: Exquisite Corpse

As our group brought forth how we would accomplish this exercise digitally, one of our group members had a great idea to create a color-coded, fillable chart so we were able to complete this task synchronously. The instructions for each member were simple; we were each to generate words independently and write them in a row assigned to us. Once we all were completed, we would read the words diagonally according to the colors to combine a new sentence. The resulting completed sentences were as follows: 1. A professional puppy eats the sad rabbit. 2. The suspicious castle walls sprinted otherwise crazy house. 3. The superfluous toad shoots a silly eyeball. 4. Many facetious chickens washed a gorgeous truck. 5. A curious tuba walks a fresh Grimace.

This exercise was in alignment with the generative brainstorming Fullerton (2014, p. 174) discusses using idea cards. Undoubtedly, this method can produce innovative ideas and thoughts, that may not be brought forth without such a process, as it forces the group to consider pairings of words or ideas at random. As a result, we were able to extract five illustrative and fictitious scenarios from each of these sentences. This exercise will be helpful to repeat when we are trying to decide or generate creative elements of our game, whether that be the background or player avatars. Nijstad and Stroebe (2006, p. 186) discuss that most people are under the assumption idea generation is best as a group, but go on to describe that certain behaviours can interfere, stimulate or stall idea production when in a group setting. They identify when an individual is given space and time to think of an idea and bring it to the group, this will offer better ideation, creativity, and production of ideas than sharing within a group (Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006, p. 210). Although we wanted to generate ideas synchronously within an allotted time for this part of the assignment, moving forward when it comes to other aspects of the game design, we will most likely generate ideas asynchronously and bring those forward to the group. The authors (Nijstad & Stroebe, 2006, p. 211), also suggest that electronic brainstorming is ultimately preferred to prevent idea blocking from other group members, which further supports our brainstorming in this way. This article was intriguing and in alignment with our practice as a group for these exercises, in that, we did have the most creative ideas generated in this particular exercise, whereas in most other exercises we took turns sharing an idea after hearing and considering another’s idea.

Exercise 6.6: Brainstorming

Link to our collaborative brainstorming whiteboard using Jamboard: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1XBzOvtMmqbEuNxXRjp9eY71LFiO_lyIbkUATWYGOnR0/edit?usp=sharing We set aside 60 minutes for this exercise, and came up with 100 ideas surrounding our game design, utilizing Jamboard, a digital whiteboard. We were able to recognize what creative strengths each of our members brought ot the group, based on the types of ideas that were suggested. For instance, some members focused mostly on the themes/lessons within the game, while others focused on aesthetics, logistics or features. We ensured that while we posted our ideas, we followed Fullerton’s (2014) no criticism suggestion, framing our mindset with accepting ideas and encouraging more ideas, with the “yes..and” approach (p. 72). Following our collaborative whiteboard brainstorming session for this exercise, we debriefed our ideas as a group and sought out connections, similarities and potential pathways forward for our project. We quickly recognized how extensive the theme of financial literacy was for middle years, and narrowed down our ideas.

Fullerton (2014) suggests the idea of “target player research” (p. 181), which we see as a probable next step after this exercise. Fullerton (2014) describes this research as observing your target players, playing a game or completing an exercise that is similar or in alignment with what we are trying to achieve. In our group’s context, observing students utilizing the Chatterhigh online platform (Chatterhigh.com) would be a good starting point. This is a career-focused educational platform, where students complete financial literacy, budgeting, or taxes modules and receive points they can put towards live draws, or donate. Observing how middle years students react to some of these topics and where they show most interest, or desire to learn would be helpful. Not only observing, but also asking students how they could see this platform be more gamified, and ideally what features could be added to make it feel more game-like, and less as of an assignment. In our debrief, we eliminated some hypothetical ideas or topics, based on our own experiences and opinions, but it would be nice to use target player research as well to make these decisions, so our game can have a stronger appeal to our target audience.

Exercise 6.7: Describe Your Game

Our Game in a Nutshell

Your character wakes up in a medieval village with nothing to your name and the goal of the game is to earn enough money to own the village. Through interacting with villagers and making strategic investments, the player can slowly accumulate wealth and power, until they finally attain the ultimate goal of owning the village. This game offers a unique and entertaining experience that teaches valuable lessons about finance and strategy, while also keeping players engaged and entertained. Game mechanics will be that of an RPG where you will talk to villagers to learn about budgeting and finance, and complete tasks that will earn you money. There will also be mini games (such as baking bread) can also earn money and favour with the village.

This exercise is in alignment with Fullerton's (2014) exercise 6.7 in which we are to describe the essence of our video game (p. 188). This exercise was a good starting point for really considering what our game will be and what we want to achieve with it. Our primary goal is to provide a game that is both educational and entertaining. Fullerton (2014) states that play is not only for entertainment but also for skill development and knowledge acquirement (p. 103). It is our hope that our game will be able to fulfill these roles as well as be entertaining for students. The essence of our game is to gamify skills associated with personal finance (savings, investments, loans, etc.) to win the game (own the village). Zainuddin et al., (2020) found that gamification improves student motivation as well as their skills and learning achievement (p. 11). We believe that the structure of our game will mean that students will develop, retain, and personalise finance skills in a motivating and entertaining setting.

This exercise is in alignment with Fullerton's (2014) exercise 6.7 in which we are to describe the essence of our video game (p. 188). This exercise was a good starting point for really considering what our game will be and what we want to achieve with it. Our primary goal is to provide a game that is both educational and entertaining. Fullerton (2014) states that play is not only for entertainment but also for skill development and knowledge acquirement (p. 103). It is our hope that our game will be able to fulfill these roles as well as be entertaining for students. The essence of our game is to gamify skills associated with personal finance (savings, investments, loans, etc.) to win the game (own the village). Zainuddin et al., (2020) found that gamification improves student motivation as well as their skills and learning achievement (p. 11). We believe that the structure of our game will mean that students will develop, retain, and personalise finance skills in a motivating and entertaining setting.

Exercise 6.9: Feature Design Exercise, Part 1

Exercise 6.9

Think of a feature you would like to see added to one of your favorite games. I am sure you have plenty of ideas on this one. It does not matter how far-fetched or technically difficult the idea is at first because you are not going to actually build it. Rather you are going to illustrate how it works using storyboards and words.

James

Leon

Agnes

Leighton

Reflection

Rylan

References (2017). Nintendo Switch, Nintendo. F1. (2023, February 13). McLaren rookie Piastri explains why he’s confident he won’t suffer from the same struggles as Ricciardo | Formula 1®. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.mclaren-rookie-piastri-explains-why-hes-confident-he-wont-suffer-from-the.2umc1Xf8w0xpdqPkZJ63D9.html Fullerton, T. (2014). Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, NY: Taylor & Francis (CRS Press)/ Harry, P. (2023). Spare. Bantam Books. Riordan, R. (2006). Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Hyperion. Ries, E. (2018). The Lean Startup (Republish). Bentang Pustaka. Nijstad, B. A., & Stroebe, W. (2006). How the group affects the mind: A cognitive model of idea generation in groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 186-213. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1003_1 Zainuddin, Z., Chu, S. K. W., Shujahat, M., & Perera, C. J. (2020). The impact of gamification on learning and instruction: A systematic review of empirical evidence. Educational Research Review, 30, 100326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100326

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