GAME DESIGN TDA580

Assignment 3 Pinche Perez

Pierre Tregaro, Daniel Svensson, Enrique Perez

2008-02-29

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1 Table of contents

1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3

2 Process description.................................................................................................................. 4

2.1 Design goals ......................................................................................................................... 4

2.2 Possible Methods ................................................................................................................ 4

2.3 Planning ............................................................................................................................... 4

2.4 Execution ............................................................................................................................. 4

2.4.1 Conceptualization ........................................................................................................ 4

2.4.2 Prototyping .................................................................................................................. 5

2.4.3 Play testing .................................................................................................................. 6

3 Design Document .................................................................................................................... 7

3.1 Design goals of “Pinche Perez” ............................................................................................ 7

3.2 Design History ...................................................................................................................... 7

3.3 Marketing Information ........................................................................................................ 7

3.4 Legal Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 8

3.5 Gameplay ............................................................................................................................. 8

3.5.1 Game concepts: ........................................................................................................... 8

3.5.2 Possible actions: .......................................................................................................... 8

3.5.3 Death: .......................................................................................................................... 9

3.6 Game Characters ................................................................................................................. 9

3.6.1 Carin Spector ............................................................................................................... 9

3.6.2 Bob Perez ..................................................................................................................... 9

3.7 Story .................................................................................................................................. 10

3.8 The Game World ............................................................................................................... 10

3.9 Media List .......................................................................................................................... 12

3.10 Technical Specification .................................................................................................. 12

4 Analysis .................................................................................................................................. 13

4.1 Boundary ........................................................................................................................... 13

4.1.1 Rules .......................................................................................................................... 13

4.1.2 Modes of play ............................................................................................................ 13

4.1.3 Goals/ Subgoals ......................................................................................................... 13

4.2 Holistic ............................................................................................................................... 13

4.2.1 Game Instance ........................................................................................................... 13

4.2.2 Game Session ............................................................................................................ 14

4.2.3 Play Session ............................................................................................................... 14

4.2.4 Extra Game Actvities ................................................................................................. 14

4.3 Structural ........................................................................................................................... 14

4.3.1 Interface .................................................................................................................... 14

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4.3.2 Game Elements ......................................................................................................... 14

4.3.3 Players ....................................................................................................................... 14

4.3.4 Game Facilitator ........................................................................................................ 14

4.3.5 Game Time ................................................................................................................ 14

4.4 Temporal ........................................................................................................................... 15

4.4.1 Actions ....................................................................................................................... 15

4.4.2 Events ........................................................................................................................ 15

4.4.3 Closures / sub-closures .............................................................................................. 15

4.4.4 End Conditions ........................................................................................................... 15

5 References ............................................................................................................................. 17

Appendix A ...................................................................................................................................... 18

Appendix B ...................................................................................................................................... 19

Appendix C ...................................................................................................................................... 20

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1 Introduction

This document is divided into three main areas. Process description, design document, game analysis and appendix. The process description describes the initial stages of the project, and more precisely how the idea was conceived. The design document is basically a structured diary used throughout the project to describe the design process and to preserve design choices. Finally we provide a game analysis using the component framework in order to further describe the essential components of the game. Detailed information can be found in the appendix.

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2 Process description

This section will describe the process of creating our design document and the goals and demands we had on the project as we started. It will discuss what methods we used and why we used them. It will also give an insight in how we planned and executed the prototyping phase of the project.

2.1 Design goals

We believe that it’s important to create a game that hasn’t been done before. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use good game mechanics that already exist. You just shouldn’t use them in a way that makes your game a copy of something else. We also believe that a game should tell its story through playing the game and not just as something between levels in the form of cut-scenes. By having the player “live” the story you create a greater bond between the game character and the person playing the game. You shouldn’t just play but experience.

2.2 Possible Methods

We plan to use Brainstorming (Jones. p. 274) as a method because it’s a good way to generate ideas and we need somewhere to start. It is also good because it doesn’t take much time and effort to learn the method.

Other methods we plan to use include any of the techniques described in Removing mental blocks (Jones. p. 286) such as Osborn’s nine transformations and Re-assessment of the Design Situation. These methods are helpful when you have an existing problem and need new ways of attacking them.

2.3 Planning

We plan on basing our schedule on the deadlines provided for the various parts of the project. The suggested deadlines are a great way to motivate the group and get things done. If we would have been free to plan this project without the set restraints, such as prototype testing and such, it would probably include similar deadlines. Below is a simple gant-chart for our proposed schedule.

Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10

Conceptualization

Prototyping

Play testing

Presentation

Design document and Process description

2.4 Execution

This section will describe the methods used during the various parts of the project. It will also give references to the results from each stage.

2.4.1 Conceptualization

We used brainstorming as an initial divergence method with the goal to generate lots of different game concepts, strange ideas, different technologies and story elements. As we expected there were no problems coming up with a plethora of ideas as the method worked well.

We then classified the output from the first brainstorming in categories of: story element, game mechanic and technology. We did the classification to more easily use the ideas in our next method. We had no problems with the classification method.

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With the classified ideas we did a brainstorming-like method where we took one note from each of the three categories (we had them written on small post-it notes) and then a forth from a random category and tried to come up with as many game ideas as possible using these four ideas and concepts. We wrote down all game ideas for further processing.

Finally we went through all the game ideas and eliminated the ones we found problems with and then voted on the remaining ones. This gave us the “controlling a blind guy” game concept.

2.4.2 Prototyping

In order to test the core gameplay and further define our game we made a low-fi prototype. We had several things that we needed to test so that we could base our design decisions on something concrete.

Figure 1: the prototype level we used to perform our low-fi testing

We created a simple level out of paper and simply started to play the game to see what issues

we had. We played the game by having one act as Bob Perez moving around the level. We found out that we needed to test out different personalities for Bob and that we wanted to have people play the game so that we could find more possible keywords by listening to how people would instruct a blind person.

The personalities we initially came up with where:

Brain dead Perez. He simple follows you commands blindly. Not tested.

Scared/Reluctant Perez. Craves more input and more reassurance. Only moves a few steps before asking what to do next.

Smart/Brainy Perez. Wants detailed explanations before moving.

Clumsy/Stupid Perez. Makes mistakes and stumbles. Sometimes goes the wrong way (left instead of right).

As we tried the different personalities on our selves we realized that it was unnecessary to test Brain dead Perez on real people as he was simply too boring. We also wanted to try out different ways of moving Perez around and came up with the following:

4-way movement. Only possible to move up, down, left, right. Of course relative to the blind character.

Tank-movement. Tell the person how many degrees to turn then tell them to move. Ex. Go forward. Stop. Turn 10 degrees left. Turn a little more. Move forward.

The combined movement. You use the 4-way to move fast and the tank-way to fine-tune the moves.

How the character is controlled is a major part of the game and we want to find the easiest and most comfortable way to do this. By testing different ways of moving we get an idea of the issues involved.

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We want to find out how people will react to the different personalities. This will help us design the final personality of Bob in the game. It will also help us to see how important this aspect is.

2.4.3 Play testing

We had a play testing session for two hours on Tuesday, 2008/02/19. We managed to play test on seven subjects and also had a small interview (see Appendix A) with each of them. The results (see Appendix C) gave us many insights into what a good personality should be like and we also learned a lot of new possible keywords and ways to control Perez.

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3 Design Document

3.1 Design goals of “Pinche Perez”

Develop an idea for a game / gameplay that:

is original, fun, playable, and has an attractive story;

includes / appeals a good amount of players;

could be interesting enough to be developed by a company in the future;

Represents a peculiar gaming experience.

3.2 Design History

“Pinche Perez” is a video game concept coming to life after a long process of brainstorming. Many ideas, stories and concepts came to the discussion table, but only the gameplay of a voice-controlled character and the use of standard FPS controls made it to the satisfaction of the game designers.

Rules, story and world levels followed the game idea, which was then prototyped and prepared to be play tested. The preparation of the game to be tested and represented in a physical medium had the objective of finding out if some elements of the game worked out properly or not. The main interrogations in the game design process focused on the character’s personality, the enjoyment of the game, the keywords of the game, and the playability.

The low-fidelity prototype of “Pinche Perez” consisted of the physical representation on paper of the initial level of the game, which illustrated the constraints of the area where actions take place. A set of short instructions were given to the participants as well as the story of the game. Thus, the tester would guide a plastic figure by giving oral instructions throughout a “facility level” with obstacles, must-to-happen events, and strategy-demanding situations (a drawn environment of two rooms, doors and a swimming pool).

The testers provided the information needed to improve “Pinche Perez” showing the game designers what to remove and what to add in order to make it a more fun and better game. The results of the last part of this design process are included in this design document. The rest of the “Pinche Perez” history is yet to come, it is not over, it still to be written considering that one day it will be a big success!

3.3 Marketing Information

“Pinche Perez” is an extremely fun game with the possibility to attract a vast audience. The most specific demographic characteristic of the most typical “Pinche Perez” players are the following:

- 14+: a “Pinche Perez” player has the ability to plan and think strategically. To play “Pinche Perez”, one must be mature to decide a series of actions to make headway on the game and at the same time feel intrigued and interested to continue playing as long as the situation gets more complex and demands deeper and better thinking. From teenagers around fourteen and up to grown-ups will enjoy playing “Pinche Perez”.

- FPS-capable players: the gameplay of “Pinche Perez” features stander FPS controls. Therefore, persons used to playing this kind of game would feel like “a fish in water” while guiding the character through the levels with this specific game type perspective.

- Puzzle-interested: the world levels in “Pinche Perez” constitute hard-to-solve situations in which the player will have to struggle with time, obstacles and the different moods of the blind character during the game. People who enjoy hard-to-solve tasks will feel thrilled.

Moreover, “Pinche Perez” does not imply senseless violence, which makes it suitable for young people. The voice-controlled character may be hurt and even die along his journey, but the game does not feature an unjustified spill of blood nor show pain as an important issue. People who avoid

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violence will also feel attracted by the gameplay of this game when discovering that the only “negative situations” are due to their failures in their play; if they don’t do well, the blind character’s life will go on detriment, but with no blood nor sadism.

3.4 Legal Analysis

“Pinche Perez” is an uncommon mixture of genres such as adventure, action and puzzle; which constitute a very innovative concept. It combines the FPS-puzzle style and the facility-like environment from games like “Portal”, and the dialog-based nature and riddle-shaped levels of the adventure games.

Nonetheless, the original game concept and all the characters of “Pinche Perez” are completely created from scratch and their use does not infringe any copyright law. The originality of the game resides in the rich interaction with AI through voice control and the possibility to see the levels in advance at the beginning of the game.

The story behind “Pinche Perez”, a guy waking up locked up in a room with monitors and then guiding someone blind through a facility, makes reference to the 1996 film “Cube”; without being based on it, though.

3.5 Gameplay

The main goal of the game is to exit the facility. In order to achieve it, you have to guide the blind guy throughout the facility by giving him instruction so that at the end he gets to the place where you are locked up and make your way out together.

You give instructions to the blind character with the speaker system; you also watch his moves on the surveillance system with the possibility of switching among the different views. The blind guy follows your instructions but not “blindly”, he may stop or hesitate to proceed in certain cases due to his current emotional state, which depends on the trust he has for you.

The rooms of the facility (levels) are filled with puzzles and obstacles likely to be harmful to the blind guy. Hoses on the floor, swimming pools, electroshocks, or even holes on the floor or on the wall can make the blind guy’s way to you a very difficult journey. Additionally, buttons to press, handles to pull, devices to activate and doors to open, will hinder his pace and consume your time.

3.5.1 Game concepts:

Timing: an important part of the game is that it is exciting and timing is one of the mechanics that give the game some action. Timing can be used in many ways. One example from the first level is that as soon as a button is pressed the player has a limited amount of time to exit the room before the exit door closes. Another example would be to make Bob jump between moving platforms etc.

Indirect fine control: you, the player, start the game giving orders to a character that doesn’t represent you. You move him but indirectly, because you are not him. This character, a blind guy, has a special mood and personality that makes him stand out as an independent element in the game; which means you don’t have absolute control over him.

Buttons – cause and effect: when a strategically-placed button in a level is triggered, it can for example open the exit door through which the character has to go to reach the next level.

3.5.2 Possible actions:

Possible actions that the blind character can undertake are walking, jumping, picking up objects etc. For a more complete list of all available actions see Appendix B.

The game has a list of keywords / commands that represents the only possible instructions that Bob Perez recognizes. In case of using a wrong command, the character responds with a wrong-instruction feedback and will not move. See Appendix B for a complete List.

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3.5.3 Death:

A big difference between other games and “Pinche Perez” is that here you won’t die. However, you lose the game if the blind character you are “directing” with your instructions dies. He has a life bar that increases by taking power-ups and dwindles if he hurts himself along the way. Hitting walls, tripping and electro shocking would deduct life from the character’s life bar, while death would come automatically when falling into the swimming pool or a pit.

When Bob, the blind guy, dies, a copy of him is printed out through the clone-o-matic. The clone-o-matic is a machine that saves a copy of Bob’s current state between levels. The machine can only make a predefined set of copies. You can find power-ups in some levels that will increase the number of possible copies. The print-out of Bob is not initializing him with a full life bar, though. He is printed out as he was the last time he was scanned by the clone-o-matic. Thus, if a previous scan of Bob was not an ideal one, if his life bar was low, he will be reconstituted in that way. In order to repair this phenomenon Bob needs to increase his life bar level by taking life power-ups.

3.6 Game Characters

3.6.1 Carin Spector

This is the main character of “Pinche Perez,” and the character which the player controls directly. She has no idea why she is trapped in the facility, and is driven by the urge to get out of there.

3.6.2 Bob Perez

This is the blind guy that follows your instructions through the world levels. His lack of sight implies that the most common instructions you can give him refer to movements, i.e. walk, run, to the left, to the right; buttons to push and obstacles to sidestep. He is an AI element you have to deal with during the game.

Bob is not the best listener on Earth. He has a temper and a confidence level that determines how he will react to your instructions. If your orders have caused him to trip or get hurt, he will be reluctant to follow what you say; conversely, if you have led him without drawbacks he will be tame and follow by heart your orders.

Moreover, Bob Perez has a series of replies for the orders that he receives and depend merely on the specific circumstances. The following are examples of events that would trigger him to talk and his corresponding answers:

If moving in the same direction for a long time o “Are we there yet?”

If stumble on something: o “You need to tell me to watch out for obstacles.” o “You need to tell me to watch out before the obstacles.” o “What are you blind? Why didn’t you tell me to watch out for that?”

If walk into a wall: o “I can’t walk through that.” o “That hurt.” o “May this never happen again (in a threatening tone).”

If falling to death: o “Aaaaaa!!”

If drowning: o “I know I should have learned how to swim.”

If bored/impatient: o “Boring…” o “Can you make up your mind?” o “Still waiting.”

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o “You suck.” o “Sleepy noises.”

In case of not understanding the instruction for using an invalid keyword, he uses these replies:

o “What?” o “Why would you say something like that?” o “I don’t understand.” o “Say that again.” o “Say something else” o “How rude”

If running-out of time after activating a button: o “I think we should hurry up”

3.7 Story

Did you have sweet dreams Carin Spector? You just wake up. The surprise is to see where you are and what situation you are in. You open your eyes and find yourself suffering from memory loss and locked up in a room equipped with surveillance and speaker systems. You cannot get out; the door seems to open only from the outside.

You look on the monitors and see your context. You are in a strange facility; you can see the different levels of it on the monitors as well as a person. You realize just by watching that it could be possible that the person you see could come to the place where you are locked. You use the speaker system to ask him to do so; you realize this person, called Bob Perez, will help you but he is blind, though. This way you embark in the quest of getting Bob Perez through the facility’s levels to open the door for you but this task won’t be an easy one. You will have to make his way safe avoiding obstacles, opening doors, and gaining his confidence.

But why is this whole situation happening? Nobody knows, but there is someone else watching… Get Bob Perez to open the door for you and make your way out of the facility and find out why are you there.

“Pinche Perez” features a linear narrative with the peculiarity of controlling a character that you are not playing. You have standard FPs-controls along the levels and guide the blind character with your voice.

3.8 The Game World

The facility where “Pinche Perez” happens has several levels of puzzles. Each level has obstacles designed strategically to increment the complexity of the game and require better strategies to be formulated in order to make headway.

At the end of each level a clone-o-matic is situated representing the end of a game stage and saving the play session.

Figure 2: mockup of the room where Carin wakes up

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The physical look of a level is similar to a mental hospital, just walls and empty rooms. However, the obstacles spread all around make of the place a very peculiar context. Examples of obstacles in the game include hoses, steps, electroshocks, walls, water, pits, uneven levels and clock-regulated doors.

There are two kinds of power-ups, carrots and the DNA-string. The carrots are the power-up’s that increase Bob’s life level, they don’t repair his sight, though. The DNA-string power-up enables you to use the clone-o-matic an extra time. Collect both kinds!

Figure 5: Top down view of a mockup of the first level

Figure 4: View from camera 1 in room 1 in the first level Figure 3: View from camera 2 in room 1 in the first level

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3.9 Media List

“Pinche Perez” consists of the following media assets:

Bob Perez-character model and its set of animations corresponding keyword combinations.

Level environments, textures and meshes

Music backgrounds for both the levels and the cut scenes

The preliminary list of artists required for the development of “Pinche Perez” is the following:

3D animators with knowledge on rigging, modeling, meshes, texturing and lighting

Graphic artists to elaborate the visual aspect of the game and the UI design.

Expert Level designers

Booklet and package designers

3.10 Technical Specification

The game requires the development of a system with these characteristics:

FPS environment / standard FPS controls

An Artificial Intelligence that simulates the blind character with independent personality and susceptible temper

Accept Inputs through voice

Figure 7: View from camera 1 in room 2 in the first level Figure 6: View from camera 2 in room 2 in the first level. Note the red button.

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4 Analysis

This section analyzes the game according to the component framework, described in the lecture. The analysis serves to further explain components such as rules, gameplay, goals and procedures associated with setting up and terminating the game.

4.1 Boundary

4.1.1 Rules

The gameplay is confined to the 3D environment represented as a facility divided into many different rooms. In part of the game the main character, Carin Spector, is in a surveillance room and has access to monitors which reside in these rooms, hence it is possible to “see” the upcoming rooms or levels. Bob Perez however, is confined to the rooms which he has “passed” and must overcome certain obstacles to progress to a new room.

Bob Perez (the blind dude) is also bounded by his intelligence, or in other words the set of commands which he understands and the actions which he can perform.

4.1.2 Modes of play

In the very beginning of the game the player can only interact with the surveillance cameras and, indirectly via a speaker system, with Bob Perez. Only one surveillance camera can be viewed in detail at one time. Besides guiding Bob through various obstacles by telling him what to do which is the main mode of play, the player can also choose to look ahead at upcoming levels.

The next part of the game is when the player has succeeded in guiding Bob to the surveillance room and let the main character out of the surveillance room. At this point Carin Spector and Bob Perez continue the journey through the facility together, and must cooperate in order to overcome obstacles. Bob is still controlled with voice guidance, but Carin Spector is controlled with the mouse and keyboard, or alternatively with a gamepad. Solving a puzzle may require simultaneous input from the player, i.e. voice control (of Bob) and keyboard or gamepad control (of Carin).

Throughout the course of the game certain obstacles may be collected and used, hence a form of inventory is necessary. A separate GUI will be provided for over viewing the inventory. In some instances objects may need to be combined or examined at a closer vantage point.

4.1.3 Goals/ Sub goals

The main goal is to find out where you (Carin Spector) are, why you are there and possibly how to get out of there. Both characters are at the beginning of the game completely unknowing as to what they are doing in the facility. During the course of the game clues and hints are discovered continuously as you progress through the facility. Sub goals include solving puzzles, overcoming obstacles, getting through to a new room and of course learning new information about your situation.

Learning new keywords and phrases that can be understood by Perez could also be a sub goal.

4.2 Holistic

4.2.1 Game Instance

Pinche Perez only supports one player, although two players could cooperate within the same play session. The main point is that there is only one avatar.

After starting up the game on the local computer or console the player is immediately thrown into the story and can control the main character and must from there on figure out what to do. During the course of the game instance the player will control Carin Spector directly and “control” Bob Perez indirectly.

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When all levels have been accomplished and all clues have been found, the last part of the puzzle partially or fully (depending on if we want a sequel) unveiling the mystery is revealed and the game instance ends.

4.2.2 Game Session

Same as game instance.

4.2.3 Play Session

A play session starts when the player loads a saved game or starts a new one. If a “saved” game is started, the player will start at the beginning of the level where he/she stopped playing last. The session ends when either Bob has lost all his health and there are no more clone-o-matics or when Carin has lost all her health.

4.2.4 Extra Game Activities

Pinche Perez does not support any extra game activities, although discussions among friends about how to solve puzzles may be viewed as an extra game activity. For those whom are so inclined, driving Bob Perez mad by torturing him in different ways might also be seen as an extra game activity, or possibly trying out and finding as many keywords as possible that Bob understands in order to get new responses.

4.3 Structural

4.3.1 Interface

The keyboard, gamepad or joystick is used to control the main character’s movements and actions. The microphone serves as a tool to speak with the side kick Bob Perez. The player in effect “speaks” directly to Bob through the microphone.

A response is given either by Bob performing an action or with him speaking back to you. Besides the physical world represented by the 3D environment a small GUI is also available with

indicators showing Bobs current level of trust for Carin Spector, his health level and also Carins health level.

4.3.2 Game Elements

3D facility

Main character, Carin Spector

Voice controlled side kick, Bob Perez

Different objects used to solve puzzles

4.3.3 Players

There is only one human player in Pinche Perez. The human player controls or “plays” Carin Spector, a woman trapped in a strange facility. The other player is the blind character Bob Perez whom is AI-controlled, but can also be indirectly controlled by the human player by telling him or requesting him to do things. How well Bob responds to the players’ requests depends on the level of trust which he currently has for him. Bob is also trapped in the facility, but starts the game at a different location in the facility.

4.3.4 Game Facilitator

The computer system or console which the game is executed on acts as the facilitator.

4.3.5 Game Time

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Pinche Perez is carried out in real-time. In some instances the player may be constrained by time when solving a puzzle. This is clearly indicated or learned by trial and error. Other than the time constraints inherent in some of the puzzles, time plays no significant role in the game.

4.4 Temporal

4.4.1 Actions

The player controls the main character Carin Spector directly. Possible actions include:

Moving in all directions

Running

Walking

Picking up/ Letting go objects

Examine object closer

Manipulating objects

Checking inventory Bob Perez is controlled indirectly, or rather persuaded by the player via voice control to perform

certain actions. Sometimes the actions will be performed and other times he may refuse or misinterpret the actions requested by the player. Basically the same actions which Carin can perform can be performed by Bob.

4.4.2 Events

As long as the actions are “allowed” Carin will do them as they are commanded by the player. Actions such as examine object or check inventory will trigger events such as zooming in on the object, or loading of the inventory GUI. Sometimes manipulating an object may trigger another object to move or react in certain ways, such as a button opening a door for example.

Unsuccessful guidance of Bob Perez may lead to a decrement in his trust level, whereas successful guidance over a certain period of time will increment his trust level. A lot of mishaps lead to an untrusting Perez, whilst good guidance leads to a harmonious and trusting Perez. Bumping into hazardous objects or falling off heights will decrease the health level and of course the trust level.

If Bob loses all of his health, a new and fresh Bob will be printed out by the clone-o-matic at the beginning of the level. The clone-o-matics have a fixed “quota,” when the quota is reached the game ends. Bobs and Carins health can also be boosted with health packs which are hidden in different parts of the facility.

Computer generated events include:

Loading of new level

Other level specific events Other events include phrases or responses triggered by keywords used when “speaking” to Bob.

4.4.3 Closures / sub-closures

Closures:

Completing a level

Solving a puzzle

Learning a keyword

Gaining trust

Boosting health

4.4.4 End Conditions

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The game ends when the player has successfully navigated the main character to the last level.

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5 References

Jones, John Chris (1992). Design Methods. 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons, inc.

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Appendix A

Low-fi prototype questions: Play tester number: _______

What did you think about the movement of the character?

How would you like to control the character?

What did you think of the way the blind character behaved?

Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting?

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Appendix B

Keywords before low-fi testing

Keywords:

Move, go – move forward.

Move <direction> - turn to that direction and move forward.

Turn <direction> - turn to that direction and nothing more.

Stop – just stops.

Push <item>, Press <item> - Interacts with item within reach.

Watch out for <Stairs, Staircase, something> - Walks carefully and avoids falling.

Crawl – get down on his knees and crawls.

Jump – simply jumps up in the air.

Run – run forward

Confident dependent keywords

Jump forward – Jumps forward. Won’t do it if to low confidence.

Climb <down, up> - climbs up or down if possible. Won’t do it if to low confidence.

Event replies:

If moving in the same direction for a long time

o Are we there yet?

If stumble on something: o You need to tell me to watch

out for obstacles. o You need to tell me to watch

out before the obstacles. o What are you blind? Why

didn’t you tell me to watch out for that?

If walk into a wall: o I can’t walk through that. o That hurt. o May this never happen again

(in a threatening tone).

If falling to death: o Aaaaaa!!

If drowning: o I know I should have learned

how to swim.

If bored/impatient: o Boring… o Can you make up your mind? o Still waiting. o You suck. o Sleepy noises.

If in a hurry: o I have to hurry up. o We should hurry up.

Non understanding replies:

What?

Why would you say something like that?

I don’t understand.

Say that again.

Say something else.

How rude.

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Appendix C

Results from low-fi testing

Play tester number: 1

What do you think about the movement of the character? Answer: simple

How would you like to control the character? Answer: - What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: I hate him. Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: No idea. More interaction. More talkative. New keywords/ways of interaction? Answer: -

Play tester number: 2

What do you think about the movement of the character? Answer: Ok. Wasn’t obvious how to go faster. Want to know what keywords he understands. How would you like to control the character? Answer: Make it possible to use different speakers. What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: He´s Ok. New keywords/ways of interaction? Answer: Feel for the wall. Wanted to pick it up.

Play tester number: 3

What do you think about the movement of the character? Answer: Tricky, feels reluctant to run. How would you like to control the character? Answer: Learn keywords as you play instead of knowing them beforehand. What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: Natural, no trust. Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: A little smarter, not to trusting. New keywords/ways of interaction?

Answer:

Go straight until I say stop.

Keep going “ “

Some more “ “

Turn around

Hurry up

Stairs

Run forward

Carefully

Play tester number: 4

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What do you think about the movement of the character? Answer: Idea Ok. In prototype maybe dice. Number of throws = time. How would you like to control the character? Answer: Speakers in several positions. What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: Earn trust. New keywords/ways of interaction? Answer:

Keep going forward

Don’t stop

A little forward

Left

Right

Continue forward

Sorry

A few steps back

Turn back

Play tester number: 5

What do you think about the movement of the character? Answer: Erratic How would you like to control the character? Answer: Wanted to use touch sense. Grid system What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: Inconsistent Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: New keywords/ways of interaction? Answer:

Walk to your right

Until you reach the wall

Keep right hand on wall

Walk forward slowly

One step forward

Down the stairs

Play tester number: 6

What do you think about the movement of the character? Answer: It works. Not so difficult. How would you like to control the character? Answer: What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: Needs more phrases. Grumpy. Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: Good the way he is. Should be more inquisitive. Should not take own initiative. New keywords/ways of interaction? Answer:

Straight forward

Just a bit

Keep to the left

What do you feel

Follow the pool to the left

Continue

Hurry

Play tester number: 7

What do you think about the movement of the character?

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Answer: Frustrating but you learn. How would you like to control the character? Answer: What did you think of the way the blind character behaved? Answer: Good. Should he be smarter/dumber/more trusting/less trusting? Answer: Good as he is. Irritating if he does things that you don’t tell him to do. New keywords/ways of interaction? Answer:

Jump over

Go up two steps

One step

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