INTERACTION BENCHMARK - COLOURS AND OTHER DESIGNS

The following sketch represents the colours that will be dominant in the application. Also included are references for the main menu and a proposed sketch for the layout of the main navigational menu.

INTERACTION BENCHMARK - ICONS

Below are a sample of icons to be used in the game.

INTERACTION BENCHMARK-LAYOUT

The following images are benchmarks and references for the general layout of the game page. The top most image is a sketch of the game page layout.

SPACE, FORM AND CONTEXT

This section focuses on the space within which the tiger roams. The map shows the resources, prey, predators and water available to the tiger while the X on the map marks the exact location of the tiger. The previous images are reference images for the maps.

EMOTION AND STYLE BENCHMARKS

The emotion of the game will be a mellow yet serious kind of emotion. Although the aspects of gaming will be present, the environment will be designed such that the point of conservation is driven home. The dominant colours of the application will be green (for nature), brown (for earth), and yellow (for the sunlight). Red will also be used to represent the food that the tiger dwells on.

INTERFACE DESIGN

REFERENCES for the interface.

ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

The following images are references for the game environment.

CHARACTER DESIGN

TIGER

The following images are references for the character design.

THE APPLICATION

The concept behind my application will be “Being A Malayan Tiger”. In line with this, the player will have the chance to control and watch the growth of a tiger which he or she chooses during the start of the game.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the game will be to ensure that the tiger survives and lives to a full mature age while avoiding various dangers and surviving the wilderness.

GAME PLAY

The player shall use keyboard as well as mouse controls to move the tiger to various locations while the screen and speakers will be used to project output in line with the various inputs provided.

GAME FLOW

The introduction screen will introduce the player to the game and give the player various instructions and the objective of the game. After this, the player gets to choose the kind of tiger that he/she wants be it male, female and the player gets to name his/her tiger.

After naming the tiger, a video is played about the life and habitats of the tiger along with its behavior, the food it eats and the dangers that threaten it. After this, the player will go through a tutorial that will teach the various keyboard commands for moving the tiger, making him eat/sleep/run/attack. After this, the player gets into the main game in which he is introduced to his tiger that has just been left by his mom to fend for himself.

After this, the player will be required to find food, shelter, and water for the tiger. Later on in the game, the player will be required to avoid poachers, other predators, geographical dangers such as holes and valleys. In the challenge stage, the tiger is stuck in a tiger trap and it is up to the player to free the tiger by answering some factual questions about tigers. If the questions aren’t answered on time, the tiger dies.

After going through all this successfully, the player will be required to find a mate for the tiger. After getting the mate, he will be required to mate and raise the offspring up to the point where they can fend for themselves.

When he reaches a mature fruitful age, the tiger dies in peace but his/her offspring remain to carry on his legacy.

CHALLENGES

The main challenge will be to design and code the game to ensure that it looks realistic enough yet workable. I will have to design the props, the tiger and to model them and ensure that the interactivity works and that the coding, if any, works correctly.

The second challenge will be the time constraint. I have to submit the project punctually and on time.

The third challenge will be to ensure that the information meant to be passed across is conveyed as well as possible.

TARGET AUDIENCE

This application will be suitable to children from the age of 12 up to adults into their fifties. The information will be clear enough for the children to understand yet informing enough to keep the adults happy. Gameplay will also be suited to the above demographic.

THE RESEARCH

Malayan Tiger Facts(http://www.tigers-world.com/malayan-tiger.html)

The Malayan Tiger is only found around the Malayan Pennisula which is where the name comes from. This is the newest species of tiger to be identified as it has only been recognized as a subspecies since 2004. They are the smallest in size of all the species of tigers. They are very often confused with the Sumatran Tiger due to their small size and their coloring. In fact, some people think that they are looking at photos of a young tiger instead of one that is a full grown adult with this species.

The main food source for these smaller tigers are deer and livestock. I don’t have to tell you that the fact that they kill large numbers of livestock doesn’t go over very well with humans. In fact, it is believed that this is the biggest threat to them. Humans want to destroy them so that they can’t continue to destroy their livestock. The Malayan Tiger is also known to kill humans but again that is likely due to a lack of prey to choose from and the fact that humans are moving into their natural habitat.

To help increase the number of Malayan Tigers out there, you will discover that there is a huge breeding facility in Malaysia. In the past 10 years they have been successful with breeding more than 40 of these animals. Their cubs have been sent to various zoos around the world to help keep them safe. The number that are breed is still low though due to the huge amount of testing that must be done. This is to ensure the genetic coding of the parents isn’t too similar. It is also done to help eliminate some physical deformities that are genetically linked as well.

There are only about 800 Malayan Tigers level in the wild so their population is extremely low. Right now there is a huge debate over the naming of them. In Malaysia they are upset that they didn’t the right to help name this newest species of tigers. There are many that feel they should have been named after the man that had a theory about their existence and then completed the genetic testing to proof it. They feel it is important to recognize him for the work and for the information he brought to light.

In spite of the name, there is no doubt that Malaysia is extremely proud of this discovery. In fact many businesses have it as part of their logo or their brand identity. The Coat of Arms has also been updated to add to of these tigers to the design of it. People all over the world have a fascination for it as well. It seems that they don’t want to this new discover to be one that is so quickly just archived to the history books.

One of the huge concerns is that it is believed about 90% of them in the wild reside in areas that are beyond what is protected. Therefore effectively mapping out these other locations so that pressure can be placed upon the government to protect in those areas as well is very important. Additional fines and even jail sentences for the illegal killing of them is also something that needs to be actively pursued.

That is why you will find many campaigns out there to raise money for the further research and protection of the Malayan Tigers. This won’t be easy due to what is going on with their natural habitat and the low numbers. However, there are significant efforts already in place so it is possible that one day they will see their name removed from the list of endangered species.

Other facts:

http://www.21stcenturytiger.org/index.php?pg=1183113244

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-tiger.html

http://www.21stcenturytiger.org/index.php?pg=facts

Navigational/screen issues with the game.- Colours

As is evident, the dominant colours in the game are red, orange and grey. These colours are not very suitable for the age group since they signify danger according to the website http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/academics/hohonu/writing.php?id=73 .

To deal with this, cooler colours can be sought such as greens and blues.

Navigational/screen issues with the game.- Info on how to play the game

Although there is a tutorial section for the game, it is hard for a first time player to figure out the objective of the game and how to accomplish it. In the beginning, the lions are not marked as threats, and the objective is not clearly stated. One has to wander about for a while before realising that the lions can attack and that the objective is to collect the gems and head to the door that is also not clearly marked.

Examples of how this can be changed are by using pop-ups to instruct the player on where to go and how to counter the lions.

Navigational/screen issues with the game.- Character View.

The first most dominant issue is that the face of the character cannot be seen. The navigation controls only allow the player to move the character from the back position overlooking the character's head. This poses a problem because the player finds it hard to identify what kind of animal the character is and a deep relationship is not achievable with the character if the face is not visible.

This goes along with the fact that the character is not customizable.

According to the website, http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2009/12/22/the-importance-of-character-customization/ the author says:

"Personally, the way my character looks is incredibly important to how I perceive him, how I want others to perceive him and how much I engage with him and thus the game. Being able to uniquely design my character within a MMO gives me the ability to identify myself as an individual, different from everyone else, and being able to customise my avatar to a high degree allows me to undertake the role play that I wish to pursue."

The controls should give the player a chance to rotate around the character more freely as in this case.

Another issue is the inability to control the character fromany other position save from the back-top orientation. This is frustrating when the player needs to observe the world around him while running in one direction.

To improve the game, i would enable the palyer to see the character from all angles, customize the character, be able to change the views and enable the use of the mouse in case of keyboard failure.

Age group/ Target

This game is targeted towards children from the ages of 8 years to 15 years old. it helps to improve their reasoning skills and reflexes and helps them to realise how to manage limited resources as well as how to avoid danger and how to be successful in completing tasks.

The game also helps them to learn how to solve puzzles and use reasoning to achieve their goals.

Screenshots of the game (Sammy Suricate)

Sammy Suricate is a 3D puzzle game that requires the player to challenge his/her wits and reflexes by directing the main character Sammy Suricate through the beautifully rendered 3D world of Lion Land. The player is required to explore fantastic environments while searching for magical gems while trying to avoid or defend himself against an amazing species of lions.

This game is educational in the sense that it helps the player to sharpen his wit and to be able to use resources to his/her advantage because they are limited in number. The reflexes and also navigational skills are tested because at times, the player has to figure out a way around the lions or how to attack them so as to gather the gems and get to the door. The lions cannot be killed in this game.

The game also offers the user insights into the animal kingdom through the use of a number of species of animals.