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| Given these decisions, we also needed to decide what technology would be the most appropriate to use. From there we could go on to develop some game mechanics and work on an overall design. | Given these decisions, we also needed to decide what technology would be the most appropriate to use. From there we could go on to develop some game mechanics and work on an overall design. | ||
| - | The expected outcome was a downloadable multiplayer game which would be associated with an installation involving living plants. Plants in the game world would mingle with the real plants by means of projection, and sensors which would read signals from the plants and their environment. | + | The expected outcome was a downloadable multiplayer game which would be associated with an installation involving living plants. Plants in the game world would mingle with the real plants by (for example) |
| ==== Methods ==== | ==== Methods ==== | ||
| - | We met for many design gatherings, mostly in the foam studio. Between the meetings we communicated via the groworld mailing list, skype, and during active development we made use of a dropbox folder to share images, movies and executable game prototypes. Foam also made use of a git repository for sharing code and associated data. Images of drawings and screenshots were posted and categorised on flickr and movies, prototypes and images we also posted on personal blogs by those involved. | + | We met for many design gatherings, mostly in the foam studio. Between the meetings we communicated via the groworld mailing list, skype, and during active development we made use of a dropbox folder to share images, movies and executable game prototypes. Foam also made use of a git repository for sharing code and associated data. Images of drawings and screenshots were posted and categorised on flickr and movies, prototypes and images we also posted on personal blogs. |
| The work seemed to go through various changes of pace and focus. The start was about discovering the roles and expertise within the group, while at the same time trying to pin down a design, or at the very least a broad common theme that we could all work within. During this first phase we were also trying to answer the question of what technology we could work on together. | The work seemed to go through various changes of pace and focus. The start was about discovering the roles and expertise within the group, while at the same time trying to pin down a design, or at the very least a broad common theme that we could all work within. During this first phase we were also trying to answer the question of what technology we could work on together. | ||
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| < | < | ||
| - | I also wanted to try and take a well known game, and put it into a vegetal world. I also wanted to try playing a game from a plant’s POV, so I chose Tetris, and warped it around the roots of a tree. The blocks represented nutrients coming in from the soil, which you fit together to grow your plant which is in the middle of the screen. Each row (or circle in this case) completed made your tree grow a little more. | + | I also wanted to try and take a well known game, and put it into a vegetal world. I also wanted to try playing a game from a plant’s POV, so I chose Tetris, and warped it around the trunk of a tree. The blocks represented nutrients coming in from the soil, which you fit together to grow your plant which is in the middle of the screen. Each row (or circle in this case) completed made your tree grow a little more. |
| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
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| I spent some time working on combining images of parts of plants combined with lsystems to see how detailed we could get. The results were much better looking than the 3D lsystems, and easier to control artistically. | I spent some time working on combining images of parts of plants combined with lsystems to see how detailed we could get. The results were much better looking than the 3D lsystems, and easier to control artistically. | ||
| - | Meanwhile as a group we were also trying to describe in general what the eventual game could look like and how it could work. We discussed for long periods of time, and it seemed that people had quite clear ideas but we seemed to have difficulty | + | Meanwhile as a group we were also trying to describe in general what the eventual game could look like and how it could work. We discussed for long periods of time, and it seemed that people had quite clear ideas but we seemed to have difficulty merging them together into a clear shared design. However, after one of these long sessions Auriea and Michaël posted their [[tale of the plant dungeon]]. A lot of the ideas here ended up influencing the rest of the project. |
| Taking the ideas of a split between below and above ground from the plant dungeon, and a more cellular approach to being a plant, I had a go at making another quick game prototype. | Taking the ideas of a split between below and above ground from the plant dungeon, and a more cellular approach to being a plant, I had a go at making another quick game prototype. | ||
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| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
| - | It was at this point that I had to pack up all these prototypes and take them to foam’s contribution to Ghent’s [[http:// | + | It was at this point that I had to pack up all these prototypes and take them to foam’s contribution to Ghent’s [[http:// |
| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
| - | The most popular game to come from the Ghent experience | + | The most popular game to come from the Ghent lab was a dancemat powered pollination experience which seemed particularly to catch the imagination of the younger game testers. |
| - | On a more technical note it also became apparent that despite having a sketch system working, lsystems were not going to provide us with the artistic control we needed to get the variety of plants that were being discussed. I did some research into putting drawings of small components of plants together in a way that was determined by the drawing, rather than an algorithm. This system was called [[pluggable plants]] which I continued to use in game prototypes for a while as a nice way of getting interesting plants without | + | On a more technical note it also became apparent that despite having a sketch system working, lsystems were not going to provide us with the artistic control we needed to get the variety of plants that were being discussed. I did some research into putting drawings of small components of plants together in a way that was determined by the drawing, rather than an algorithm. This system was called [[pluggable plants]] which I continued to use in game prototypes for a while as a nice way of getting interesting plants without |
| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
| - | As a group we were now getting more in depth on the design process. We had the [[groworld story]] which gave us a good description of a world in which to base the game. However, we were still hitting | + | As a group we were now getting more in depth on the design process. We had the [[groworld story]] which gave us a good description of a world in which to base the game. However, we were still having |
| * Making 'user stories' | * Making 'user stories' | ||
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| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
| - | The project seemed to get a new surge of activity as Tale of Tales had time to spend on active development. A 2D hexagonal growth board game seemed like a suitable mechanic for us to concentrate on as a group. After initially agreeing to use the Blender game engine which seemed good common ground between us, the pressure of time meant that results were going to be quicker coming if we worked in environments we were most comfortable with. The idea was that at the end of their time ToT had available for development, | + | The project seemed to get a new surge of activity as Tale of Tales had time to spend on active development. A 2D hexagonal growth board game seemed like a suitable mechanic for us to concentrate on as a group. After initially agreeing to use the Blender game engine, which seemed good common ground between us, the pressure of time meant that results were going to be quicker coming if we worked in environments we were most comfortable with. The idea was that at the end of their time ToT had available for development, |
| Despite this divide of environments, | Despite this divide of environments, | ||
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| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
| - | However, as we approached the end of the time which ToT were able to actively develop, there was a sense of disillusionment at the game we had created. | + | However, as we approached the end of the time which ToT were able to actively develop, there was a sense of disillusionment at the game we had created. |
| The first plant eyes prototype: | The first plant eyes prototype: | ||
| < | < | ||
| - | The general idea is that you start of inside the seed of your plant. You can then grow outwards and down into the earth, in order to locate and absorb nutrients with your roots, or upward and out into the air and attract insects with flowers that grow on your branches. | + | The general idea is that you start of inside the seed of your seed. You can then grow outwards and down into the earth, in order to locate and absorb nutrients with your roots, or upward and out into the air and attract insects with flowers that grow on your branches. |
| - | I now had a period of intense work on this last game prototype. There were also now more and more inspirational drawings being worked on for the groworld almanac. Nik and I were also given the opportunity to look at an area which had been put to one side so far - the human-plant interfaces. We led a workshop on plant sensing in Berlin, in which we developed hardware to sense light, moisture and temperature from a plant' | + | I now had a period of intense work on this game prototype. There were also now more and more inspirational drawings being worked on for the groworld almanac. Nik and I were also given the opportunity to look at an area which had been mostly |
| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
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| < | < | ||
| - | I tried as much as possible to take things from the earlier design decisions, such as Auriea' | + | I tried as much as possible to take things from the earlier design decisions, such as Auriea' |
| {{http:// | {{http:// | ||
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| ==== Solution/ | ==== Solution/ | ||
| - | We were able to display an impressive amount of work at the grig event, 5 game prototypes in all. I explained the progression and decisions at each point by discussing each prototype in turn with the participants. We lacked a single product with which to release to the public and despite having | + | We were able to display an impressive amount of work at the grig event, 5 game prototypes in all. I explained the progression and decisions at each point by discussing each prototype in turn with the participants. We lacked a single product with which to release to the public and despite having |
| These are the aims that I feel we addressed in some form: | These are the aims that I feel we addressed in some form: | ||
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| == Using plants as inspiration as an organisation model == | == Using plants as inspiration as an organisation model == | ||
| - | We now have software released for integrating PLT Scheme (and by extension, fluxus) with the jabber messaging system as a result of this project. This allows the game clients to run as a peer to peer network without a central server. The plant eyes game also has code in it to integrate with this, and it has influenced the design of the game. I would have liked to explore | + | We now have software released for integrating PLT Scheme (and by extension, fluxus) with the jabber messaging system as a result of this project. This allows the game clients to run as a peer to peer network without a central server. The plant eyes game also has code in it to integrate with this, and it has influenced the design of the game. I would have liked to explore |
| == Descibing the complexities of permaculture through a game == | == Descibing the complexities of permaculture through a game == | ||
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| == Using multiplayer cooperation == | == Using multiplayer cooperation == | ||
| - | We can't show much of this, despite having | + | We can't show much of this in any game prototypes, but we got a long way in solving the technical issues. |
| == Using plant guilds as a framework for a game worlds structure == | == Using plant guilds as a framework for a game worlds structure == | ||
| - | The final Tale of Tales garden prototypes took the guild member plants and put them game world you could navigate. They were modelled in 3D and included growth anination. The plant eyes prototype was just starting to differentiate between different plants. | + | The final Tale of Tales garden prototypes took the guild member plants and put them game world you could navigate. They were modelled in 3D and included growth anination. The plant eyes prototype was just starting to differentiate between different plants |
| == Developing and using human-plant interfaces == | == Developing and using human-plant interfaces == | ||
| - | We build them, and got them working with the game, but never had the chance to design a way in which this information could be used effectively. | + | We built them, and got them working with the game, but never had the chance to design a way in which this information could be used in an suitably interesting manner. A lot of the problem here was due to the frequency of changes being so slow in the data. We worked on some ideas on how to slow the game down to match which were interesting, |
| == Use the groworld drawings as inspiration and incoporate them into the game == | == Use the groworld drawings as inspiration and incoporate them into the game == | ||
| - | All the later prototypes incorporated | + | All the later prototypes incorporated designs from the groworld almanac drawings. This gave them all a thread of consistency which themed the games in a pleasing way. Earlier attempts at making drawings directly into plant structures by treating them as components had to be unfortunately |
| ==== Discussion ==== | ==== Discussion ==== | ||
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| * More use of computer-less prototyping, | * More use of computer-less prototyping, | ||
| * Less 'open debate' | * Less 'open debate' | ||
| - | * More restrictions, | + | * More restrictions, |
| * Doing the user stories at the start of the project - we didn't talk about our audience much at all until this point | * Doing the user stories at the start of the project - we didn't talk about our audience much at all until this point | ||
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| Most game projects only attempt one or two new things on top of existing well used and understood game mechanics. We could not get away with such a strategy here, as it became clear that we needed to invent a whole new set of mechanics and problems relating to plants in order to achieve the feeling of being the plant, not just managing one. This seemed central to the idea of the groworld project. | Most game projects only attempt one or two new things on top of existing well used and understood game mechanics. We could not get away with such a strategy here, as it became clear that we needed to invent a whole new set of mechanics and problems relating to plants in order to achieve the feeling of being the plant, not just managing one. This seemed central to the idea of the groworld project. | ||
| - | I certainly feel like we approached the project in the right way. I fell into a process of prototyping each next biggest problem that I faced. Sometimes these were technical, e.g. networking, at other times gameplay problems e.g. trying to grow a plant a cell at a time. The alternative is to have a rigid grand plan at the start and only find out what the problems when it's too late to fix them in the best way. This also means when discussing the project with others often the answer to their questions is: "we tried that, and found this..." | + | I certainly feel like we approached the project in broadly |
| On balance I am very pleased at what we have achieved, when discussing and showing groworld at talks at Futuresonic, | On balance I am very pleased at what we have achieved, when discussing and showing groworld at talks at Futuresonic, | ||
davegriffiths